For many people, December is a month full of balancing time with family and friends while also shopping for gifts, decorating, cooking and doing all other chores to prepare for celebrating the holidays. How can busy and stressed parents help their children create memories amid all the bustle?

Wendy Middlemiss, associate professor of educational psychology in the University of North Texas College of Education, gives the following suggestions:

• Create a "thankful book." Each year, say and write something for which you are thankful, and then look back at the book as the years go on. "It takes away from the idea that this is for presents," Middlemiss says.
• Keep children involved in creating and maintaining family traditions around the holidays. "You can have young children choose something that they will contribute," she says. "Maybe they will make a cake or they will make bread."

Contact Middlemiss at 724-977-3067 or Wendy.Middlemiss@unt.edu