I think kids can get very worked up with excitement, especially at Christmas, birthdays etc and this can be classed as stress.  They are also ’on the go’ from early in the morning until late at night, more so than on a ’normal’ day, which is why they may require a little more hydrocortisone to keep their levels up and to stop them flaking out!  My son feels drowsy and gets a headache when he is cortisol deficient and as this happened on Christmas day, he took an extra dose of hydrocortisone, which solved the problem.  I guess all kids are different, some get more excitable than others and mothers tend to know their own children.  As Jenny says, better to give a little extra and be safe, rather than end up in hospital and be sorry, especially at this time of year.  As for ’can emotion bringing on a crisis?’ - I believe the answer to that is yes, it can but once again, it probably depends on the person involved.