Avoiding Depression During the Holidays

Unfortunately, many people will buy into the pressures of cool ads and catchy jingles when it comes to Black Friday and Christmas or whichever holiday they celebrate this time of year. Many people feel compelled to run up their credit cards and to rob Peter to pay Paul. Some will spend rent, light bill and other bill money on gifts and toys, many of which the children won't look at after a week.

How can you remain sane during this season? Something that I started with my children when they were young was that we would have 7 days of celebration. You could certainly modify that to two or three days. Starting 7 days before Christmas they would each get a gift daily. This way they got the opportunity to really connect with that one thing each day. They really liked the idea of doing something different than their acquaintances and friends. We also would spend time talking about how blessed they were to get what they had. The best gift was given on the day before Christmas.

Another way to change the family focus is to volunteer to help others less fortunate than you. Help out at a soup kitchen, volunteer to help a senior citizen who lives near you to clean up or to cook. Make sweet treats with holiday decorations. Sell them to make some extra money and to brighten others days. Make holiday cards with your kids for children in the hospital to share good will. Volunteer at your child's school to share in the spirit of giving.

If you can't really afford to spend money on pre-made gifts, I have certainly seen people use their natural gifts and abilities to give gifts. For example, if you draw well, you can spend less than $4.00 on paper and draw really nice pictures to give as gifts. Buy string or thin ribbon at a dollar store so that you can roll it as a scroll. Another idea is if you bake well, you can spend less than $10 to bake cookies or mini cakes and to buy containers to put them in at the dollar store.

An additional idea is consider giving gift coupons like, Three Free Hours of Babysitting, Skip Dish Washing Coupon, Free Hair Cut, a Free Nail Polishing Coupon and more.

Remember, you can make the holidays what you want them to be. You don't have to follow the a crowd, make it your own!

• Spend time with others
• Do fun things you enjoy
• Help others/Give your gifts to others
• Get out of the house
• Listen to music that makes you smile
• Make a holiday plan that makes sense and in your budget
• Remember to exercise to keep your spirits lifted
• Read 10 Ways to be a Great Parent

Happy holidays! Make this an unforgettable one.