Our main household calendar for 2007 contains a key phrase each month along with the picture. As I go to replace it this week, I am reminded of how each month provided a reminder of something that should be important, but is sometimes neglected.

Here are some of the phrases:

• Life’s a Balance
• Love
• Aromatherapy
• Alone Time
• Stop and Smell the Flowers
• Go with the Flow
• Life’s Good
• Variety Is the Spice of Life
• Contemplate
• Reflect

(Source: YinYang Cat calendar, www.andrewsmcmeel.com)

It’s finally arrived, Christmas day. Here’s wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

Take a moment, right now, to breathe. Enjoy the beauty of the image I’ve provided here and just relax for a moment.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Relax.

Just be. For a moment.

(Photo courtesy sxc.hu)

I found a good, quick read about tips for families with toddlers, “Simplifying Christmas for Toddlers.” I love the idea of simplicity and have been trying to add it to my life for several years now.

In the article, the author talks about how to take time to be a family. Christmas gets so overwhelming at times. Add a toddler to the mix and you can have chaos.

I love how the article ends:

Lower Your Own Stress Level

Toddlers have an innate ability to sense when the people they love are stressed. If you are feeling stressed through the holiday season due to over scheduling your time, your toddler is going to feel stressed as well. Help you toddler to have a peaceful Christmas by taking the time to take care of yourself.

Good advice for the moms out there who need a break from all we are trying to get done.

December is such a stressful month. I’ve been writing about how much I have to do with Christmas creeping up on me. Today, while pulling out of the Einstein Bagels store parking lot a woman in a mini-van waved me into traffic. It was a simple, but great gesture that really put me in the right frame of mind for the day. You see, I was already running late, having run out of the house without eating anything when I decided I needed nourishment for the long day ahead of me. So, stopping for a bagel meant I was pushing the envelope even more. When this woman waved me in it gave me some time back. Here are some ideas of things we can do for each other this month:

1. Let a car in front of you.
2. Let someone with only one item go ahead of you in line at a checkout counter
3. Put money in the Salvation Army kettle. Those bell ringers work for long hours, often in the cold. Put something in.
4. Skip the parking spot nearest the store — let someone else park there.
5. Put your neighbor’s newspaper by his front door one morning.
6. Pay the toll for the car that is behind you.
7. Offer to return the shopping cart to the store for someone who just put groceries in his car.