While the holidays are definitely an exciting and joyous time for many people, they can also be very hectic. Rushing around from one party to the next, trying to shop for gifts, bake goodies, and take care of the children while they are home from school can be difficult for even the best multi-tasker. Fortunately there are a few simple tips that you can use to survive the holidays.

The best advice that you can get in regard to surviving the holidays is to plan ahead. By being on top of your holiday schedule, you can reduce stress, depression, anxiety, and even that general harried feeling that we all get. Set aside specific times for Christmas shopping or baking, and don’t do those things unless it is the schedule time. Know what you can afford for Christmas, too; make a holiday budget, and stick to it. Recognize ahead of time that you will want to spend more on gifts than your budget allows, but resolve not to.

You should also make sure to take some time to recharge during the holidays if you are going to survive. Benjamin Franklin’s advice about early to bed and early to rise is particularly appropriate advice for surviving the holidays. Get enough sleep at night so that you have the energy you need for the next day. Take a little bit of time, even if it is only a couple of hours once or twice a week, for some alone time. Enjoy a bubble bath, or read a good book. Do something that, for a little while at least, will take your mind off of the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

You should also rely on your friends and family to help survive the holidays. Parents and grandparents have often seen many more holidays come and go than you, and their advice and encouragement can be invaluable during the holidays. Listen to their tips, and use them. In addition, take some time to enjoy, not just care for, your children while they are home from school. Try to enjoy a special lunch with your girlfriends, either on a shopping day or during the week. Use these types of social events to relax, and to prepare for those bigger more stressful social events.

Finally, be willing to ask for help. If you are struggling with depression during the holidays, understand that depression can be extremely dangerous and even be disabling. Be willing to talk to your health care provider or mental health care professional if you believe you may be depressed.

Christmas can be an excellent time to take a family vacation. In addition to getting away from the regular hustle and bustle of the holiday, vacationing at Christmas can provide you and your family with a tremendously enjoyable experience. There are several locations that are good choices for vacationing at Christmas.

Why not take a trip to the North Pole for Christmas this year? Just north of Lake Placid in New York, there is a little town called “North Pole.” During five weekends during November and December you can stay here, even taking a visit to Santa’s workshop and helping trim the North Pole Christmas tree.

The warmth of Orlando, Florida attracts many Christmas visitors, particularly those that are vacationing from northern climates. Over 1,500 Christmas trees are set up at Walt Disney world, and there are special Christmas related events. On some nights, the Mickey Mouse parade at night even includes Wooden Soldiers and Gingerbread Men. At Epcot, you can hear Christmas stories from around the world. At the MGM studios, there is a spectacle of lights including more than five million Christmas lights. At Universal Studios in Orlando you can see an authentic Macy’s holiday parade every night. There is also Grinchmas, featuring the Grinch and Whoville from the famous Dr. Seuss story.

Hershey, PA has a Christmas Candyland that many people enjoy visiting. The theme park in Hershey opens up with over 1 million lights, along with Santa and live reindeer! There is also something known as Hershey Sweet Lights, a two mile drive through the woods that are filled with lights and over 600 animated Christmas displays.

If skiing is your thing, Breckenridge, Colorado is probably the best location for your Christmas vacation. In addition to awesome ski slopes, Breckenridge has a Christmas Bazaar, strolling carolers, and visits from Santa Clause.

American history buffs might like a Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. This restored historic district has real-life actors who really bring to life the Christmas celebration of the days before the American Revolution. Colonial Williamsburg also includes a Christmas parade, tea with Charles’ Dickens great-great-grandson, and live musical performances on period instruments.

When new families are just starting out, Christmas can be an especially memorable and special time of the year. Almost every incidental activity that the family engages in has the potential to become a Christmas tradition in your family. From such simple things as making cookies to complex gif-opening rituals, each family has their own traditions. In fact, there are nearly as many Christmas traditions as there are families!

Christmas traditions often start by accident for some families. One family, for example, always eats Chinese take-out on Christmas Eve. This all started one year when the couple was first married, and things were so hectic on Christmas Eve that they decided to go out for dinner. Of course, no place was open all around the entire town. Finally, they came across a small Chinese take-out place. Every year thereafter, even after the children came, they eat Chinese take-out on Christmas Eve. In this case, the Christmas tradition started around a silly bit of poor planning, and became very memorable for the entire family.

Many families decide to start their own Christmas traditions in a more methodical manner. The spouses can look at the traditions that your family and your spouse’s family had when you were growing up. You can look at them together, and talk about which ones you will keep as a new family, and which ones can go by the wayside. You can also start thinking about traditions that you have heard that other families practice, and add them to the list. Then, you need to think about how those traditions work with your family. If you have children or plan to have children, how will they fit in with those traditions? When starting Christmas traditions in your family, it is important to think about how those traditions will play out in the long term.

Families should also always be open to starting new Christmas traditions. As you talk to other families or read stories of other families, you might find Christmas traditions that sound appealing. Try them out one year, and if they don’t work for your family or your family just doesn’t enjoy them, try something else next year. Before you know it, your familiy will have started may Christmas traditions of their own.

There are many reasons that you might want to make some personal Christmas gifts this holiday season. It could be that you have someone who is very difficult to buy for. It might be that you want to communicate a very special feeling to someone. Or, it may even be that you are hoping to scale down your Christmas budget a bit, and to make things a little less materialistic for your family. Here are several personal Christmas gifts that you can make:

Customized Gingerbread people. You can make gingerbread men, women, and kids, and you can decorate them to resemble the person or people who are going to receive them. you can even put their names on them, or their initials if there is not enough room for their whole name. These are excellent personal Christmas gifts when you are going to be visiting another family.

Name poems. Name poems are excellent personal Christmas gifts, and very easy to make. You simply use a person’s first or last name to make a poem for her. If her name is Sally, she might be Sweet Active Loving Loved Young. You can then decorate the poem in any number of ways, such as printing it on the computer or coloring it by hand, and place it into a nice picture frame.

Photographic gifts. There are a good number of personal Christmas gifts that you can make with photographs. You can make a photo album of your family and include family recipes, for example. Or, you can decoupage an ornament with photographs. You might even make a “special friend” photo album, in which you include only pictures of you with the recipient. You can make the photo albums from any number of kits, or at home using rag board and colored paper.

Homemade books. This one is especially fun for children to help with. You essentily use two pieces of 9 ½ by 6 inch cardboard to serve as your book covers. You can then use white paper, folded into quarters and cut along the top, as the pages of the book. You can use a hole puncher and string to hold the book together. The book can be a “you-and-me” book, where you make the book about topics that the giver and recipient have in common. For example, one page might be “my favorite movies” and the other page might be “your favorite movies.”

With a little effort, you can make fun and personal Christmas gifts that will be cherished for a long time.

As they get older and start to have families of their own, many people look back with fondness on the Christmas traditions that their family followed. From simple things, such as opening just a single gift on Christmas Eve as a teaser for the big day, to making homemade cookies, to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, there are nearly as many Christmas traditions as there are families. Making Christmas traditions that last a lifetime for your family can be a very special part of the holiday season.

First it is important to realize that those long-lasting Christmas traditions often start by accident. One family, for example, always eats Chinese take-out on Christmas Eve. This all started one year when the couple was first married, and things were so hectic on Christmas Eve that they decided to go out for dinner. Of course, no place was open all around the entire town. Finally, they came across a small Chinese take-out place. Every year thereafter, even after the children came, they eat Chinese on Christmas eve.

You can also create your own Christmas traditions. You can look at the traditions that your family and your spouse’s family had when you were growing up. The ones that you still have fond memories of have already lasted your lifetime. You can look at them together, and talk about which ones you will keep as a new family, and which ones can go by the wayside. You can also start thinking about traditions that you have heard that other families practice, and add them to the list. Then, you need to think about how those traditions work with your family. If you have children or plan to have children, how will they fit in with those traditions?

You should also always be open to new traditions. As you talk to other families or read stories of other families, you might find Christmas traditions that sound appealing. Try them out one year, and if they don’t work for your family or your family just doesn’t enjoy them, try something else next year.