![holiday stress](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/holiday-stress.jpg?fit=353%2C234)
1. Shop online
Why go nuts fighting it out at the mall?! Shop online to gift-gather on your own schedule (while catching up on Modern Family episodes, say).
Here are some shops that offer free Canadian shipping this holiday season, or year-round:
Clothing:
Roots: $100 minimum purchase
Old Navy: $50 minimum purchase
Gap: $50 minimum purchase
Banana Republic: $50 minimum purchase
You can combine Old Navy, Banana Republic and Gap (BabyGap and GapKids) purchases to hit that $50 minimum order.
Beauty:
Sephora: $120 minimum purchase
Books and Toys:
Indigo: $25 minimum purchase
Grand River Toys: $100 minimum purchase
MasterMind Toys: $75 minimum purchase. Free gift-wrapping and gift tags, too.
![support from family](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/support.jpg?fit=353%2C234)
2. Manage your relatives
There are three ways to minimize the challenges posed by chronic one-upmanship, envy or other toxic extended-family interactions:
• Limit your time at stressful family events. Show up early, with an appropriate hostess gift, then leave an hour after dessert. If you had to travel, stay at a hotel;
• Avoid your extended clan, and celebrate with those whom you truly adore;
• Or, schedule in volunteer work at a shelter or food bank. Doing good-and feeling good!-will make it easier to ignore any family negativity.
![potluck dinner](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/potluck.jpg?fit=353%2C234)
3. Host a potluck feast
Everyone loves a holiday feast, but pulling it off can be a daunting prospect. Our humble suggestion? Go potluck. The host makes the main roast, but guests are enlisted for side dishes and dessert.
Establish a theme, so people can plan complementary dishes, for example, “Traditional Canadian Christmas” or “Asian-fusion seafood celebration.” Then send a group email listing the dishes required. Stick to generic terms, like “Side Veg #1,” “Side Veg #2,” ” Soup,” “Dessert #1,” etc, so guests can “Reply All” indicating what they’re bringing.
With potlucks, hosts forfeit the right to micromanage. So yes, it’s fair to request a vegetarian dish, but rude to assign “roasted cumin-spiced carrots cut into strips, not circles”!
![meditate](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/meditate.jpg?fit=353%2C244)
4. Try some relaxation techniques
Hectic days and nights call for fast coping strategies. Familiarize yourself with relaxation techniques that work for you. Consider:
• Saying a little prayer (for someone else).
• Locking yourself into a private room, blasting one of your iPod workout playlists, and dancing like no one’s watching. (Because no one is!)
![family sledding](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/iStock_000010531672XSmall.jpg?fit=425%2C282)
5. Get outside and exercise
Getting physical activity en famille is a great way to establish healthy habits in your kids, and to spend shared time celebrating Canada’s world-famous winter wonderland. Bonus: the following winter activities are free or inexpensive:
• Going to a tree farm to cut down your own tree
• Ice-skating
• Cross-country skiing
• Trail walking
• Snow-shoeing
• Sledding down the local hill
• Making snowmen, forts and angels
If you’re not a fan of the cold, but are too time-crunched to make it to the gym, try an at-home workout. Workout DVDs are every new-mom’s BFF, but they’re ideal for anyone with a serious time deficit-even if it’s just seasonal.
Your body will thank you with the feel-good endorphins that follow any solid workout.
![clean kitchen](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cleankitchen.jpg?fit=353%2C247)
6. Delegate, delegate, delegate!
Busy moms need to enlist household assistance. Without a lot of additional supervision, appropriately aged schoolchildren can tackle basic household tasks. (Most preschooler “assistance,” however, requires supervision: maybe grandma or grandpa can help with that.)
Active school age kids can:
• Shovel the walk (manually, not with a snow-blower)
• Walk the dog
• Take out the trash
Homebodies can:
• Set or clear the table
• Sweep and mop floors
• Take guests’ coats and hang them
![write a bucket list](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/bucketlist1.jpg?fit=353%2C327)
7. Stay organized
Take a moment each night-before and morning-of, to review and update the day’s to-do list. It’s not a wish list, so skip “Finish all holiday shopping, complete year-end reports at work, establish Middle East peace process,” and stick to realistic, deadline-driven deliverables for the day.
Use a family whiteboard or calendar to stay on top of family activities and commitments over the holiday season.
Make a point of eating breakfast as a family (a healthy habit year-round anyway), to establish any shared tasks and transportation for the day.
![gift for teacher](https://www.besthealthmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gift-for-teachers.jpg?fit=353%2C352)
8. Stay on budget
Given the global economic outlook, no one’s expecting grandiose holiday displays.
Gifts-wise, stick within your budget. A gaming gadget or deluxe smart phone isn’t a “must-have.” Parents worry kids don’t understand that, but they will if you explain.
For work and hostess gifts, save by making a big batch of peppermint-chocolate bark, granola, or bake-it-yourself cookie mix. Quality ingredients and pretty labels combine for an inexpensive gourmet treat.
Related:
• 8 ways to avoid holiday weight gain
• 3 ways to relieve stress
• 5 steps to healthier family meals