I like to think of Christmas time as the happiest time of the year. However, it’s usually the most stressful. There’s the choosing of gifts, the baking, the cooking… for me and my family, we make tamales every year, and its always a whole day, sometimes 2 of doing nothing but making tamales. Then theres the parties and the extra gifts and dressing up, meeting new people, traveling. Not only are the “normal” holiday things stressful, but I lost my grandfather on Christmas day in 2020 and I lost my best friend/cousin on Jan 2, 2023- so the holidays are very difficult emotionally.

Luckily, I have 2 kiddos who don’t know the stresses of the holidays yet and I strive every day to make their holiday cheerful and fun and really keep them in the Christmas spirit. We put up the tree before Thanksgiving this year, we have hot chocolate and family movie nights often, we have elves who come to visit, and we try to have as much family time as possible and it all really helps to curb the stresses of eveything else!

I hope that each and every one of you can find ways to be present in the moment with your friends and families and feel the love that surrounds you! Happy Hollidays!