christmas

5 Steps to Managing Holiday Stress

December 23, 2019 By Ashley McKeown Leave a Comment

Managing holiday stress is critical, especially for busy moms. Here are some practical tips for how to manage stress and deal with holiday anxiety. Following these 5 steps will help you eliminate or at least reduce holiday stress. You'll learn about triggers: what they are, how to identify them, and how to cope with them in a healthy way. This post also explains decision fatigue and how to reduce it, as well as providing tips for simplifying the holidays and time management.

Stress has, sadly, become a normal part of our daily lives. Our fast-paced world celebrates increased productivity at the risk of our health and mental sanity, and Christmastime is a perfect example of that. I wish we didn’t even have to talk about this, but managing holiday stress needs to become a normal part of our Christmas planning.

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21 Fun and Simple Family Christmas Traditions

December 8, 2019 By Ashley McKeown Leave a Comment

Family Christmas traditions don't have to be complicated and expensive! Make memories as you decorate, do a Christmas puzzle, hunt for candy canes, make ornaments, and more! Make memories without sacrificing your mental health or budget. These easy family Christmas traditions are affordable and fun for all ages. This list includes Christmas movies to watch, books to read, DIY kid ornaments, white elephant gift ideas, and so much more! #Christmas #Christmastraditions #familyChristmastraditions

Christmas is here, and with it comes so many feelings and mixed emotions. Though we dream of a perfect Christmas filled with love, memories, family, and friendship, the holidays are rarely perfect. The pressure to create the perfect Christmas can be a heavy mental burden, especially for moms.

Family Christmas traditions are a wonderful part of the holiday season, but it’s so easy for traditions to become a stressful race to do everything. Social media is filled with kids decorating cookies, wrapping presents, and ice skating, and as moms, we feel the need to give our kids as many memories as possible.

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The Ultimate List of Toddler Stocking Stuffers

November 16, 2019 By Ashley McKeown Leave a Comment

Stocking stuffers are a majorly underrated part of Christmas and gift-giving.

Gifts don’t have to be expensive to be valuable and special, and stockings provide the perfect opportunity to surprise others with little items they forgot they wanted or needed.

In our family, we follow the 4-gift rule (want, need, wear, and read) for presents, so I enjoy filling up the stockings with items that don’t always fit those categories, or are smaller items I know will be loved.

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Stocking Stuffers Under $15 That Mom Will Love

December 18, 2018 By Ashley McKeown 10 Comments

Christmas is almost here!

You’ve already finished your holiday shopping, all the presents are wrapped, and you have plenty of time to sit back and relax with some hot chocolate, right…?

Don’t worry, I’m totally kidding! I get it – the holidays are a mad dash to the finish line. And if you’re like me, you always seem to forget something from your to-do list.

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Christmas Gifts Under $50 for the Cool Mom

November 17, 2018 By Ashley McKeown Leave a Comment

What are you gifting your mom this Christmas?

Christmas is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start gift-hunting for friends and loved ones (check out my list of toddler stocking stuffers).

Luckily, I’ve got you covered with a few people! Whether you’re shopping for your mom, your mom bestie, your book club’s gift exchange, or yourself (no judgment!), these gifts for the ‘cool’ mom are sure to be winners.

I personally dislike braving the Minnesota cold and holiday crowds, so I do most of my Christmas shopping online. It’s hard to beat shopping in my PJs and 2-day free shipping.

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