Children especially feel the holiday stress. They see the presents but they can't open them. Older children may be wondering if there really is a Santa. Very young children are frustrated because they cannot touch the tree or the beautiful decorations.

Stress builds up at work as you try to get a little ahead because you know that you are taking time off even if it is only one day.

Is there any Holiday Stress that is more depressing than money? Charging on credit cards leads to intense debt. Don't forget, credit card companies will be raising the minimum payment from 2% to 4% of the balance at the first of the year. Your current minimum payment will be far higher next year than it is now.

If you are trying to stay on a cash budget, you still feel the holiday stress of not being able to get everyone what they really want. Especially children - you want them to have every thing they have asked Santa for and the older the children get - the more expensive the presents become.

Defeat Holiday Stress by spending more time with family building memories.

One of my favorite memories is a build a snowman project for my daughter on a visit to grandma. The snowmen were made out of marshmallows that had to be slightly melted and stuck together. Everything went wrong and we ended up laughing hysterically. Today - 25 years later - Mother is gone but my daughter and I still laugh until there are tears in our eyes whenever we talk about those droopy falling-down snowmen. And it has inspired us to set up projects for her children - which inevitably do not go quite as planned. Oh the laughter and the memories we are building.

So to defeat holiday stress make it your goal to turn every stressful situation into something to laugh about. Make up funny stories about the people caught in the same traffic jam that you are. If you burn something on the stove - embellish it with a colorful name such as blackened holiday chicken. Encourage your family and friends to laugh.