The holidays are filled with cookies, company and, for most, chaos! How do we keep our sanity and enjoy the season when we have so much to do? Well, it CAN be done! You just have to prioritize, plan and prepare. Here are some of the suggestions from members of our community on how they stay stress-free during December.

Learn to say NO. LOL! I'm only partly kidding. I try to get at least part of my shopping done before 'open season' and I also shop online. I get tense and panicky in crowds so avoiding the worst of the shopping frenzy is a must for me. I do not feel like I need to take my kids to every holiday party and event. I pick and choose the ones that I think they would most enjoy and that are worth the trouble. --kympossible

Hee hee heee...dip into the spiked eggnog a little early!!! Seriously though, I love to shop on-line through WOMENS-PLACE as they are supported. Hee Hee! (Shameless plug!) Really, I do, and I find some free shipping and it helps save time, no sitter needed for the kids! LOL! We entertain a lot. This year for Thanksgiving, we had an open house. Every year we do this; also, last year for Christmas, we did open house at 1 PM. We made a huge load of Stuffed Chicken Parmesan. It was a blast! I think this year I want to cut back some and enjoy my family at Christmas. I want to bask in the joy of what the Lord has done for me this year and what is to come, not be hurried and rushed. --Chelle

Wrap gifts as you get them and do NOT forget to label them! (Been there, done that.) Wrapping presents all at once and at the last minute always makes me nuts. --HostJulie

I NEVER EVER go to "THE MALL" during the holidays. I do my shopping at Wal-Mart, Target or Old Navy!!! LOL!! I shop for Jordan very early (a little at a time) and stash away!!! I do gift cards for out of state family; then I don't even have to go to the post office. It's also good because I never know what to get the preteen nieces!!! Lastly, I never over-do it!!! --Host Tmommy

I start shopping WAY early, which saves time AND money (by getting things on sale and clearance throughout the year), and I also think it's a good idea to prepare food ahead of time, as much as you can. That way you can enjoy the day more. I find that if I'm getting all frazzled and overwhelmed by shopping, parties, gifts, cooking, etc., I just take a deep breath, and think about this - if everybody on our list doesn't get a gift, if we can't make it to every party, or if we are late to every party, and if the dressing doesn't turn out just right, it's OKAY!!! I do sometimes find myself reminding myself of WHY we celebrate Christmas, and that automatically relaxes me! --Elizabeth G.

I start shopping really early (around October) and buy little by little. This way I don't have to get it all at once, of course. Then if I do have to head to a store where Sara will see something she likes, I will tell her to write a letter to Santa and maybe he will bring the toy or whatever and it usually works. I don't know how many years that will work though. --monica

I am never stressed around the holidays. I love to entertain, but I love to go to others’ homes too, and bring food. We are going to my MIL’s for Thanksgiving - in Texas. So, I will not have much work to do or stress to encounter there. She lives in po-dunk-ville, so there is no mall, or other things, which only leaves time for resting!! The best thing they have going is a Super Wal-Mart!!!! For Christmas, we set limits. We only buy for our kids, and our moms. That is it. BUT, last year, I shopped the after Christmas sale, and got a few great deals for little gifts to give to special friends, or as a hostess gift if we go to someone’s house, etc. I saved a ton of money, and can't wait to give them, and do that again this year! I can't buy early for my kids because I can't keep secrets that well. I buy them stuff all year as it is, and give it to them as soon as I walk in the door!!! So they know that they are well taken care of all year; Christmas is just to celebrate Jesus and the kids only get a few presents. One year they complained about not having a HUGE Christmas, and I told them they had a choice, allowance and gifts throughout the year for fun with a smaller Christmas or I can save everything for a HUGE Christmas. They chose a small Christmas!!!! We don't go to many parties, maybe 2-3 throughout the season. --JBAtkinson

Shop online. Keep the decorations simple by choosing one element to focus on and keeping everything else to a minimum. Do a cookie exchange w/ friends or neighbors, that way you only have to bake one type of cookie and you end up w/ a whole bunch of different kinds. --Rea T

I get all of the gifts that I know I'll need done ahead of time. There are always extras that come up close to Christmas and they're not as much of a stress if I'm already done with the others. We take our time putting everything away each year so it's easy to get everything out to decorate. Instead of big sit down dinner parties, we have cocktail parties with finger food, and we do shrimp and cheese trays mostly for those, so there's not a lot of cooking. Christmas Day used to be a hassle getting to everyone's houses and meeting at our mom's house for lunch so now we do dinner together and everyone has their own family thing in the morning. Now we have time for a nap and get to really enjoy the day instead of being wiped out by 3 pm. --Patty

I don't think I've ever been frazzled--until 15 minutes before dinner and my hair isn't combed and dinner's not quite ready. Church activities can be overwhelming with the kids' program and decorating. Otherwise, we live at a slow pace and things don't get crazier. --LarisaS

To reduce the chaos & craziness of the holidays we try to keep things simple. We limit the amount of people we buy gifts for, we limit the events/parties we go to, and when we have any extra cash we buy gifts early, plus we don't buy extravagant gifts. We also don't use credit cards, so we don't get all these large post holiday bills to stress about. --Tracy L.

In addition to all those wonderful ideas, here is another site that will help you achieve Holiday Chaos Control. Here is another great one, Holiday Cruise: 11 Stressers into Blessers. Not all the stress and chaos can be easily ignored, if you are feeling even more stress than normal, check out this site with great information on Coping with Stress and Depression During the Holidays. Lastly, because the furry members of our family can experience stress around the holidays as well, here is a great site with information about Keeping Pets Safe During the Holidays

With a little thinking ahead, you too, can have a relaxing and stress-free holiday. We hope that your holiday season is filled with nothing but fun, love and peace!

~Julie is a freelance writer, a wife and a mother who hopes to have a stress-free holiday season. She works at home, as a Jr. Editor, for a mystery shopping company and has recently relocated to Southern California with her husband and two sons.