Easing Stress: Have a Plan

In the book "Happier at Home," Gretchen Rubin tells about her eight-month attempt to create a happier home for herself and her family.

The first thing she did was to decide what made her happy or unhappy... Then she set about creating goals that would help alleviate the unhappiness and increase the happiness... Such a logical approach!

I remember the busy stage of life she finds herself in - two young children plus a career. I remember how stressed I was at times... (Actually, most of the time!) One of the things that eased my stress was having supper right after the children and I came home from school, between 4:30 and 5:30.

During the week, Terry missed our family meal. He was (and still is) a strong believer in eating together as a family. But in those days, he was able to choose the hours that he worked. To avoid wasting time in traffic, he'd head to work after the morning rush hour - around 9 am - and returned home late as well.

A second thing I did was ask the children what they liked to eat. I then created meal cards to remind me of their favorite foods. Every week, each child chose a card - and was "responsible" for making that meal, with my help. I was responsible for making sure that all the necessary ingredients were on hand.

Knowing beforehand what the plan was - and having a "helper" - made evening mealtime so much easier!