5 Tips to Make Holiday Family Gatherings Less Stressful
05 Nov 2018
With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about your family gatherings and where you will spend your holidays. This can be a stressful time for many people as family gatherings bring up some challenges like who will host, who is invited and how will everyone travel there.
Especially for our aging senior population, holiday family gatherings can be stressful because travel is not always easy and social gatherings can be overwhelming. This is why we want to provide you with five key tips for making your holiday family gatherings this year less stressful and more enjoyable. Learn what they are!
- Make decisions early.
The best thing you can do to reduce the stress of your holiday family gatherings is to create your game plan early. This means knowing how and where you want to celebrate each holiday. Ask your family about who plans to host the various holidays and then select the ones that best fit your schedule and travel requirements. If long travel doesn’t suit you, don’t commit to these gatherings. Instead, focus on the ones closer to home. When you have a game plan in place well in advance, and know what to expect, this will greatly help to reduce your stress around the holidays.
- Ask for help.
When it comes to getting to the various holiday gatherings, it’s important to ask for help with your travel. As an aging adult, it can be difficult to get around on your own. Moreover, it can be dangerous. Be sure to reach out to other family and friends who may be attending the same gathering and ask if they can help provide transportation to and from the occasion. Knowing that you don’t have to worry about finding transportation will reduce your stress surrounding holiday gatherings.
- Less is more.
Next, pick and choose just a few holiday gatherings you really want to attend. Don’t feel like you have to do it all. You may have many different family gatherings to attend, but you should pick the ones that are most reasonable for you – or the ones that are most important. When it comes to holiday celebrations, less is more. Overloading your schedule will add stress and diminish the joy that should surround the holidays.
- Know your limits.
Another important piece of reducing the stress that can often surround holiday gatherings is knowing your limits. If being around large groups of people require a lot of your energy, be sure to set a reasonable time for limit for how long you’ll spend at an event. Communicate this with the person who is providing you with transportation so you have a plan in place to leave by a certain time, or to adjust accordingly based upon how you feel that day.
- Embrace your own celebration.
Finally, don’t forget that you can have your own celebration too! If you live in a retirement community, there will likely be holiday celebrations hosted there that you can join. If traveling to a family gathering is not feasible for you this year, don’t stress about it. Embrace the various activities and social occasions that will take place within your retirement community and enjoy the time with your friends and neighbors!
Do holiday gatherings with your family tend to cause stress? Be sure you keep these tips in mind as we approach the holiday season this year!