The holidays can be an incredibly stressful time of year. Between the baking, the family members you can't stand, the never-ending to-do list, and the wrapping, a lot of people despise this time of year. But there are ways the whole family can de-stress and one of those is playing games online.

For moms, online games provide a place where children can play and be entertained as well as fun entertainment for themselves once the kids are in bed. They are mindless and distracting, a perfect way to get your mind off Aunt Sally's nagging or Uncle Bert's refusal to adhere to the "no-smoking" rule in the house.

Here are some online gaming ideas for all ages:

Be afraid. It's another Facebook horror story.

I just read about little Megan Fox, a 7-year-old in England who, while playing PetVille on her parents’ Facebook account, spent $400 on virtual pet care. Yes, virtual, as in not even real.

A couple of obvious questions spring to mind, like What’s "virtual pet care"? and Why does a 7-year-old have access to $400 to buy it? I can’t really answer the first (because I’m afraid to log on), but I can tell you that the money wasn’t hers to spend. PetVille is a Facebook game, and because this second-grade spendthrift was playing on her parents’ Facebook account, she was connected to her father’s PayPal account (which he’d forgotten to log out of). Snap!

Megan must have bought some really fly clothes and furniture for her virtual pet with that $400.

Back in a more innocent time, when the one-step-up-from-the-99-cent-store retailer Big Lots was known as Pic 'N' Save (oh the jokes we made!), my mother would always give each of her adult children a down-on-its-luck board game for Christmas. It combined so many of her favorite things: bargain finds, gifts for kids, board games, helping the downtrodden. 

Usually, the games were sucky and overcomplicated, and the public had been right to reject them and send their ass to Pic 'N' Save. But every once in a while she'd find a gem. Hedbanz, in the early 1990s was the best find ever. I don't even remember which kid she gave it to. We were all winners.

The premise is the same as a million party games where you have to guess something everyone knows but you. It's basically Celebrity, or the game they played in the cellar tavern in Inglorious Basterds (though it only ends in blood and death some of the time).

Caitlin Burke has stunned the world -- or at least the world that cares about Wheel of Fortune -- with her amazing puzzle-solving skills. With just one letter on the board -- "L" -- she solved the 27-letter phrase:

"I've got a good feeling about this"

A really good feeling, for sure.

Pat Sajack was shocked when the 26-year-old fashion magazine editor gave the correct answer, as was anyone watching.

Immediately accusations followed that she cheated, or it was rigged (it really looked like it was!), or she's a witch. But by all accounts since then, it seems Burke is just a puzzle-solving freak ... in the best sense of the word. 

Check it out:

Well this is a fun one. If you've got a blank wall and want some kind of art to make it all come together, Art.com has an iPhone app for you.

This free app allows you to snap a photo of your sad, art-free space and see what a nice Monet print might look like in your office. Not only do you search through over 750,000 images, you can pick your frame and actually place it in your home -- virtually.

Before you slather on the sunscreen, upload the Sunscreen Guide app from the Environmental Working Group.

We've talked before about dangerous chemicals in sunscreens, and how to avoid using those sunscreens on the no list. But with this iPhone app, you can access a data base of the top rated sunscreens and search by name for the one you just picked up off the shelf.

Grab your iPhone and immerse yourself in Twi-trivia this weekend so you can keep the Eclipse buzz going.

The Twilight Saga Eclipse Movie Game app can be played alone or with your Twi-hard, iPhone owning friends. With almost 500 trivia questions, you can discover how much you really know about Bella, Edward, Jacob and the rest of the gang.

Of course there's the "Who am I?" quiz where you can see which undead Cullen you most resemble.

Moms in their 50s are using Facebook just like the rest of us are, with one major difference: the ages of our kids.

Ever since Facebook graduated from college, the average user age has gone up -- and up and up. According to Inside Facebook, as of last year the fastest growing group of Facebook users was women over the age of 55.

There are a million ways Facebook can entertain any mom of any age: online games, staying informed about politics and local news, hilarious apps, and of course the running commentary from your FB friends. In addition to the good time Facebook has to offer all moms, here are some tips for using Facebook when you're over 50.