The holidays are often considered the most wonderful time of the year, and it is certainly filled with joy and excitement. Along with all of this happiness and festivity, though, can come a tremendous amount of stress. You must think about gatherings and parties, shopping and gift-giving, travel, preparing meals, handling children out of school, and more. If you are a family caregiver for your senior parent, this stress can be even higher as you are also managing the needs of your parent while taking on the extra tasks of the holidays. All of this stress can make a negative impact on your mental, emotional, and even physical health and well-being, and diminish your enjoyment of the holiday season. Taking the time to reduce stress allows you to feel confident managing tasks and handling what you need to do, while also letting you actually enjoy your holidays with those you love.
Use these tips to help you reduce stress around holiday celebrations:
- Say no. One of the most important and yet hardest things that you can do to reduce your stress during the holidays is simply to learn to say no. Identify the activities, volunteer opportunities, gatherings, parties, and other traditions that are most important to you and do those, but say no to others. This eases your schedule and gives you more time
- Embrace the potluck. Large meals and parties with plenty of treats are fixtures of the holiday season, but preparing all of these goodies can be time-consuming and stressful. Rather than taking it all on on your own, embrace the concept of a potluck. Coordinate with your guests to divide up the dishes, desserts, or other items so that everyone works together to make sure that you have everything that you need for the party but with less stress for you
- Rely on elder care. At this time of year, elder care can be more valuable than ever. Having an elderly home care services provider with your parent, both in daily situations and during special occasions such as parties and gatherings allows you to focus on other elements of your holiday celebrations, relax, and enjoy yourself while knowing that they are safe and getting the care that they need
If you have been looking for ways to enhance your aging parent's quality of life and support a lifestyle that is as healthy, strong, happy, and independent as possible as they age in place, starting elder care for them might be the ideal solution. An elderly home care services provider can be with your parent on a customized schedule that ensures your parent has all that they need to live a lifestyle that is safe, healthy, and comfortable, but that also supports fulfillment and engaged throughout their later years. This means that they are able to address their individual challenges, limitations, and needs in the ways that are right for them, but also that encourage them to be active and make the most of this chapter in their lives.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring elder care in Mountain View, CA, please contact the caring staff at Home Helpers today (408) 259-5930.