[Holiday Voices] What I'm Doing Different This Year With Jessica Eastman Stewart

This episode is part of Holiday Voices—a special Real Happy Mom podcast series filled with quick holiday tips, uplifting stories, and real-life traditions from moms who get it.

Whether you're a working mom trying to simplify the season, or just looking for ways to reduce holiday stress and be more present, these short episodes are packed with encouragement and ideas you can actually use.

Find all the episodes, links to guest freebies, and more at realhappymom.com/voices

Transcript

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You are tuned in to The Real Happy Mom podcast. I'm Toni-Ann, and this is Holiday Voices. This is a special series where moms share quick tips and meaningful moments to help you trade chaos for calm and make this season a little more like you. So let's jump into today's voice. I'm so excited to share this tip with you that just makes the holiday season a little easier, a little more joyful, a little more magic. Hey, I'm Jessica Eastman Stewart and I create tools to make life a little more joyful and a little more easy for working parents, both at home and at work. My tip is. Consider using smart plugs this holiday season. If you're not familiar with smart plugs, they're very technologically simple. And they're very low cost. You can get them for five or$7 a piece online. We happen to use the KASA brand in my house. KASA, but there are many good brands out there. And you just add this to the end of something that you're plugging into the wall. And then you plug this plug right into the wall. So it's just a little kind of extra thing at the end of your plug, and it then allows that thing to run on a schedule. Or if you have a voice device, like a Google Home or an Amazon Alexa, you can then control that. With your voice. And so the way we use it during the holiday season is I will, uh, plug our Christmas tree lights, for example, into a smart plug, and then we might have some lights on our mantle, and I'll plug those into a smart plug as well. And then I can say, you know, every evening at 5:00 PM I want these to turn on, and then I want them to turn off at say, 9:00 PM or 10:00 PM You can have them turn on at a different time on the weekends, and then you can also control them via voice if you want. So I will often be found saying, you know, on a Saturday morning. Alexa turn on Christmas and all the lights come on, and there's just a little bit of magic. So smart plugs are an easy, low tech way to make your life a little more easy and a little more fun this holiday season. Okay. That's it for this one. It is short, sweet, and straight from the heart. And if you're loving the series, make sure you follow the show or subscribe so that you don't miss what's coming next. I'll be back again tomorrow with another one of these holiday voices. Until then, take care and with thoughts of love.