Tag: Christmas

The holidays are officially over, but that doesn’t mean your home has to suffer through months of uninspired decor. However, it's a fine line between an explosion of Christmas and tastefully weaving in a few magical touches. At the end of the day, the goal is to make your home look festive year-round without compromising on style. Focus on blending a tasteful array of festivity with the everyday look of your home.

The lively, bustling holiday season often brings up questions about "how to set healthy boundaries" with family and friends. These questions—and the answers to them—are so important, because solid personal boundaries can create the greatest of holidays. The tips and tools offered below will help you add a lasting glow to your holiday gatherings. As an added benefit, the concepts can also be used to improve interactions with family, friends, and co-workers throughout the year!

"You can choose your friends but not your family."

As cliché as it might sound, the statement relating to family is very true: your family can either be your strength or your weakness. During the holidays family matters seem to take center stage because it is a time when conflicts, money and feelings can be tested. How you choose to handle conflict will determine whether you can actually enjoy one another’s company during the holidays.

More than ever before, most of us must be far more creative in holiday gift-giving this year!

You may be one of those who hasn't ventured out to a shopping mall because of Covid-19 or just maybe, you are someone who dislikes shopping online. If you fall into either of those categories or yet another—one of those who simply don’t have the funds for a holiday spree—the following are a handful of suggestions of what you can give your significant other this holiday season. All of these recommendations are likely to mean a lot more to the person you love because they all require a highly personalized touch.

Whether you have to talk to your children about their disappointment as you tell them this year's holiday customs won't be the same as what they have been in the past (because of an in-progress divorce or the restrictions the Covid-19 pandemic has presented, or both), it’s often hard to know what to say to them. The appropriate approach largely depends on your child’s age. Disappointment is easier on the very young (a toddler) as opposed to a teenager who has learned to process some disappointment, hardship or rejection over their relatively short life.

There is no time more sensitive for divorced parents and their children than around the holidays. I’m no stranger to emotionally-charged custody disputes, and the need to negotiate to keep the peace­­–particularly at this time of year, when preventing arguments, hard feelings, or even worse—physical scuffles might come into play.

You have an opportunity to be a great spouse this holiday season. Couples are faced with many decisions this time of year about where and with whom to spend the festivities. This can lead to disagreements which cause tension in the marriage. Here are five tips for making holiday plans as a couple:

1. Don’t ignore your partner’s needs by insisting that he or she spend the holidays the way you want to spend them.