‘Tis the season to be jolly… and stressed out?  Yes, the Children’s Hospital of Central California sadly points out an increase in child abuse during the holidays due to stress. Unmanaged Christmas stress can turn into anger and violence. Let’s keep the holidays bright with an emphasis on connecting and strengthening family bonds.

Happy, peaceful memories can be had with a little effort to learn to manage anger and stress. Real-time techniques are free and available yet very few families are aware of how easy it is to implement. Please share this with your friends so we can increase our children’s chances of having a healthy, safe, and Merry Christmas.

Christmas Stress and Holiday Tips:

1. Familiarize children with relatives before a family reunion or get together. Look at photos of Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim, so children are more comfortable when they meet them at a party or social gathering. Play a fun memory game with the photos.
2. Be aware that constant company and social interaction is exhausting and stressful for adults and children. Allow for breaks from your relatives. Take your kids out to the park or a movie or even an ice cream break without the entire entourage of cousins, aunts, and uncles. Your sleepover company will also appreciate the break.
3. Pay attention to bedtime transition periods. When a house is full of people and excitement, it is difficult for children to go from full throttle to sleeping without settling down period. Spend at least 30 minutes, allowing your children to wind down. Read a book, take a bubble bath, or sit and talk in a quiet space. Exchange foot rubs, and enjoy this time to bond with your child. Lower the lights in the house to bring down the energy level.
4. Empower children by introducing them to stress and anger management techniques. If you or your children are angry or have had your feelings hurt, create a visualization to release tense emotions. Putting feelings into bubbles and watching them float away is an easy and effective technique. Breathing is also fun and easy for children to learn. For more relaxation techniques please see Parts 1 and Part 2 of this series.

Stress and Anger Management for children, teens, and adults are just a click or download away. Our Indigo Dreams CD Series will get you started immediately. Bubble Blowing is a free download written for children…but it works for adults too….Give it a try and have a look at Indigo Dreams: Adult Relaxation.

Stress Free Kids founder Lori Lite is a freelance blogger, social media strategist, parenting expert, and successful entrepreneur. Her line of books and CDs are designed to help children, teens, and adults decrease stress, anxiety, and anger. Ms. Lite’s books, CDs, and lesson plans are considered a resource for parents, psychologists, therapists, child life specialists, teachers, doctors, and yoga instructors. Lori’s award winning books received national attention on Shark Tank and her sort after accessible tips have been featured in hundreds of publications to include: CNN Living, Real Simple Magazine, USA Today, Family Circle, Working Mother Magazine, and Web MD. For more information visit  Stress Free Kids and for daily advice follow Lori on Twitter and Facebook.