The hustle and bustle of the holidays can be exciting but it can also add up to a lot of stress for the pregnant woman who already has too many things on her calendar. There are presents to buy and wrap, dinners to plan and food to buy, the decorations and maybe traveling plans and the budget to worry about. This can all add up to the pulling out of hair and the unhealthy effects of stress and that’s not good for you or the little one growing inside of you.
There are three very basic things today’s pregnant woman needs to consider. First, to relieve stress it can be very helpful to make several lists. Planning ahead and organizing all the things that you will need to accomplish may help give you a piece of mind. The lists may be a little daunting in themselves but they will present the big picture at a glance. These can be made more manageable so that there is just a small list to do at a time. Simply prioritize them and follow each step by step.
The second tip is to keep it all as simple as possible. Plan your food menu with things that can be prepared and then frozen ahead of time. When you wrap your presents, do it as soon as you bring them home. This way there will not be a huge pile all at the last minute. These can be put into piles according to how they will be opened. This will eliminate the mad dash when it comes time to take the presents to relatives or friends. Making perishable gifts like baking cookies will only add to stress. Simple gifts will mean no last minute rushes which are highly stressful.
The third tip is a reality check. Don’t expect everything to happen perfectly. This is just not how the real world works. The unexpected will invariably happen. Ornaments get broken, meals get burnt, and something is always overlooked. Mothers love their children but with children around accidents are bound to happen. The holidays is a time when mothers are preoccupied with a variety of extra duties to accomplish and children find a way to take full advantage of mother’s divided attention. A perfectly decorated and organized, clean house is a wonderful thing, mothers, but enjoying the holidays is much more important. Your health is far more important than ‘the perfect’ holiday.
