A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Holidays

The winter holidays are nearly upon us. It's a time for rejoicing and enjoying the company of friends and family. A season when we can unwind and take the time to appreciate all we are blessed with in life. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to be showered with affectionate love and gratitude from my eternally grateful and always well-behaved children. Then we'll sing joyful songs with extended family (all of whom I cherish spending time with, of course) before passing out from an eggnog - induced bliss.

Yeah, right. Who are we kidding? There may indeed be moments of love and joy during this time of the year, but the more predominant feelings parents can relate to are those of our eternal nemesis stress and his loyal sidekick anxiety. For most of us, these celebrations better resemble the scenes from Chevy Chase's National Lampoon Holiday Vacation then the serene peace of Silent Night_ (Truth be told, most parents can't even recall the last time they enjoyed a silent night.)

It starts off in the period leading up to Christmas, when most parents are hit with a to-do list the size of Mt. Everest, because let's face it, your life as a parent left you with very little to do before! Free time was practically flowing out of you like steam from a geyser. Of course, many of these tasks involve spending money, which isn't a problem, because everyone knows that Moms and Dads are loaded with cash. It's not like raising a family is expensive or anything. Then there's the extra patience needed to deal with our fellow human beings, all of whom have descended upon crowded parking lots and shopping malls at precisely the same time. This should be a breeze; it's not as though you have other responsibilities in life with a unique talent for sapping your patience. Get past the gauntlet of ordinary housewives turned ultimate fighters in defense of their right to purchase an overhyped and overpriced trinket, and you have this part made in the shade.

Then comes winter break, which means no school for kids. And no school means the teachers who have been graciously absorbing 50% of your child's daily allotment of orneriness have cut town and left you to burden the full load. For many the holidays mean cramming a lot more people into the same amount of house like so many canned sardines. This comes with its own issues, like explaining to nieces and nephews why it's bad to play tug-of-war with the living room curtains or feed the dog a package of holiday chocolates. For some families it might mean brokering peace between the in-laws; a task that might seems less hopeful than bringing an end to the Israeli-Palestine conflict. It also means that food preparation can grow into a task akin to feeling a small army.

These hassles are more than just stressful ... they are distracting. and whenever adults are distracted, kids tend to find that trouble they've been so eagerly searching for all this time. Your toddler decides it would be a good idea to test the suction power of your toilet and find out just how many of your personal items he can get down it before it clogs. (Which leads to a second natural experiment: just how long does it take floors to dry from toilet water, and plumbing repairs cost how much?!) Older children, emboldened by the presence of other juveniles to act as partners in crime, engage in mischief you may not even find out about until the ground thaws. Cousins get together to form cliques and start a turf was that would make the Bloods and Crips proud.

Given all adults have to contend with, it's no surprise that child accidents, injuries and deaths also spike around the holiday season. Several categories in particular see noticeable increases this time of the year:

1. House fires: Not only do the holiday lights and that big pile of kindling you dragged into the living room increase the danger, but the number of children playing with fire increases noticeably as well.

2. Child poisonings: Bring kids and extended family together under on roof, and you have many little fingers around many different unguarded medications kept by people who may not be accustomed to childproofing. A single time-release capsule of come common heart medications can kill a small child if bit into and ingested.

3. Household accidents: Parents are generally under more stress and contending with more distractions. They are also socializing with each other, which many times leaves kids abandoned to their own devices.

This perfect storm of risk factors means that each year, dozens of kids will die and thousands more will be seriously injured as a by product of the holiday shuffle. So it's important for parents and grandparents to know the dangers and take steps to avoid them. You can find a full list of holiday safety precautions in Global Children's Fund Child Safety Book. These steps won't eliminate your holiday stress, but at least you won't have to spend Christmas Eve trying to explain to an E.R. doctor how your child managed to swallow THAT off the Christmas tree. Stay safe (and sane)!

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