Getting Real With Candi Wingate

Candi Wingate is an expert in the child care industry with over 20 years experience. She is the founder of Nannies4Hire.com and Care4Hire.com, and author of 100 Tips for Nannies & Families and “The Nanny Factor: A Parent’s Guide to Finding the Right Nanny for Your Family” and a mother of two.

The holiday season can be filled with love and peace… well, probably love and stress is more common. You have a full-time (and then some) job; a family; civic volunteerism; and now you are tasked with purchasing a wide array of gifts for family and friends, wrapping all those gifts, writing and mailing dozens of seasonal greeting cards, preparing a large quantity of food, hosting one or more large social gatherings in honor of the holidays, and keeping the house clean before, during and after the gatherings. How do you get everything done? Will you be able to enjoy the holidays given all you have to accomplish?

If you are stressed and unhappy during the holidays, your family and friends will likely notice that. Many times, your family and friends will then experience vicarious stress. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest if you are happy and relaxed during the holidays. Care4hire.com is here to help. We suggest that you hire a babysitter. Have the babysitter watch the kids for a Saturday while you go to a day spa to recharge your batteries.

Or, perhaps you can use the time for some quiet reflection. According to Mayoclinic.com, “Spending just 15 minutes alone, without distractions, may refresh you enough to handle everything you need to do. Take a walk at night and stargaze. Listen to soothing music. Find something that reduces stress by clearing your mind, slowing your breathing and restoring inner calm.”

Maybe you can use the time to go shopping without the children: it’s so much easier to buy their surprise presents when you don’t have to try to sneak the packages in among other items in your shopping cart.

Or you and your spouse may find value in taking time for a romantic evening out on the town to recoup from the season’s flurry of activity.

Regardless of what you do to recharge your batteries, it’s important that you do something to recharge your batteries. For yourself, for your family,  for your friends, make sure that you take time for peace of mind.