(WWJ) -- The holiday season can be extremely stressful for families, especially if they find themselves trying to meet unrealistic expectations.
The latest national poll from C.S. Mott Children's Hospital on Children's Health found that one in five parents believe their child has unrealistic expectations for the holiday season and one in four admit that they set "overly idealistic" expectations of themselves.
"Parents may be surprised to learn that what they think is important to their kids isn't the same thing as what their kids say," said co-director of the poll, Sarah Clark. "That conversation really can be the start of parents giving themselves permission to let some things go -- you don't always have to do everything that you did in a prior holiday."
The poll reports that parents try to provide their children with memories of the holidays as times of peace, love and joy but the efforts to make it happen have the opposite effect for some families.
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The stress level of mothers during the holidays was found to be twice as high than fathers, with one in six parents rating their stress levels during this time as high.
And when you have stressed out parents, you have stressed out kids, said Clark.
Clark explains that if there's a tense climate around the house with fighting -- or something else uncomfortable -- kids can get to the point where they're afraid to talk to their parents to let them know their wants or needs.
"It can range from fairly minor to pretty severe stress and tension that can result in some anxiety or other health problems for kids," said Clark.
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The poll found that nearly a third of parents say stress comes from keeping family members healthy, household finances and extra shopping and holiday tasks.
Parents said the most effective ways to reduce their holiday stress included time alone, listening to music, exercise and even going to work.
