12 ~ Sunday, December 30, 1990 - North Shore News

FASHION

Moderation the key
to stress-free holidays

THE HOLIDAYS can be the most
joyful — and the most stressful —
time of the year.

Along with the pleasure of
spending time with relatives comes
the fear of potential conflicts.
Along with the fun of holiday
parties comes the fear of weight
gain from all the delicious holiday
goodies. Alone with the excite-
ment of exchanging gifts comes
the dread of receiving the bills in
January.

Not all of these pitfalls are
avoidable, but holiday stress can
be minimized and holiday joy can
be maximized.

Lets start with the family.
Holiday gatherings can turn into
an excuse to revive family feuds
and air okt resentments that
should have been put to rest or
resolved privately by now.

Then, the divorce epidemic of
the past two decades has brought
family situations that our grand-
parents never had to deal with. If
you've been spending Christmas
with your brother’s wife for the
past 10 years, and now she’s not
part of the family anymore, it’s
natural to feel a sense of loss.
That feeling is compounded if she
has custody of the kids, and
they’re spending the holiday
somewhere else.

The best solution for situations
like family feuds and divorce is to
not cven try to bring the whole
group together for one big gather-
ing. Why go through the stress of
playing mediator or being asked
to take sides?

A series of small gatherings
throughout the season will allow

you te spend ume with your
whoie family. and really get a
chance to talk to each person.

The gathering doesn't even have
to be a party. It could be a shop-
ping trip downtown, or a carriage
cide in the park, or aa afternoun
of sledding or ice skating.

Weight gain and spending too
much money are other sources of
stress. The solution here is com-
mon sense and moderation. [f you
starve yourself all day, of course
you're going to pig out at the par-
ty.

And if you put off holiday
shopping until the day before
you'll exchange gifts, of course
you'll spend more money than
vou planned.

Don't even try 10 resist all those
holiday goodies. Eat sensibly be-
fore the party, nibble a lithe of
everything once you're there, and
don’t start thinking you're a ter-
rible person if you eat an extra
cookie.

As far as money goes, if you
make up a shopping budget before
you start, decide on gifts or at
least general categories for each
person, and shop early for the
best selection, you should be able
to keep your spending under con-
trol.

More stress-reduction tips:
Make time for private time and
exercise every day — both are sure
stress-busters. When you're shop-
ping, don't let your guard down
just because it’s a Christmas vaca-
tion.

Most important, take time to
appreciate the uniqueness of the
way you celebrate the holidays.

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