Calming Christmas Chaos

The holiday season can be a very busy time of year. But it can be especially busy if you have babies or young children at home. Kate Kelly, Managing Editor or American Baby Magazine, offers some tips on how to make the holidays less hectic.

The first thing you should do, is prioritize and organize what traditions mean the most to you. Ask yourself, "what three traditions do I want to keep doing because they mean the most to me?" Don't worry about finding the time to do the tasks that don't matter to you.

Also, don't stress out over holiday decorations. Keep in mind if you have toddlers or not, what they might be getting themselves into. A little festivity is important, but don't put too much decoration pressure on yourself. And don't be afraid to ask others for help. If someone else in the family finds decorating to be very important, have them take responsibility of putting up the decorations.

And finally, sending out holiday cards can be a time consuming task, and everyone will want pictures of your children. If connecting with everyone on your holiday card list is important to you but you just don't have time, you can create a web page with your baby's picture. Then you can just send an email off to friends and family with the link of the site for them to visit.

Remember, don't beat yourself up over whether or not you are able to get everything done. There's always next year!

For more tips on how to make the holidays less chaotic and other parenting tips, please visit www.americanbaby.com.
by Jenn Eaker and Kate Kelly