Bonus Article: Hints for helping kids survive the holidays

Presents We all love to receive presents on holidays and with so much focus on that everywhere your turn, your kids are probably pretty wrapped up in the excitement. We can help make the gift-giving experience a little more meaningful. Encourage your kids to focus on the act of giving rather than just receiving. Let your children participate in the choosing of gifts for their siblings, parent, or grandparent. And, while it may not turn out perfect, let your kids help with the wrapping as well. 

This is also the perfect time of year to emphasize the importance of charity and volunteering. They might enjoy choosing a gift for a toy drive or choosing a charity to donate some money too. 

Let Them Help Some families go all out with decorations and preparations for holidays; let your kids be a part of that. You may need to let go of your preconceived notion of what item goes where or what order things should happen, but letting them be part of the work gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment.  As I mentioned, the gifts may not be perfectly wrapped but in the end the paper ends up on the floor in pieces anyway.

Kids Are Kids Keep in mind your kids are kids and not all of them are ready for long meals sitting around the table. They may be more quiet and not enjoy a raucous room of lots of talking people and music playing. Help them and yourself by making sure that you take their temperament into consideration when making your plans. 

Keep Their Routines We can’t wait for winter break from schools and vacations from work. As adults, we crave the interruption to our schedules to sleep in, stay up late, eat foods we otherwise wouldn’t. However, kids can actually find all of that more stressful. While they might love not having to go to school, there are other parts of their routine that should be kept close to normal. 

Bedtimes and Nap times are important to try and maintain. When children miss their sleep windows, they will get that “overtired” energy which can lead to behaviors that get them yelled at and make it harder for them to sleep peacefully. It might be hard to explain to grandma or aunts that your child needs to go to bed, so don’t. Don’t explain, just let everyone know it's time for your kids to start their bedtime routines and you will be back. 

Meals and snack schedules are important to maintain as well as making sure their is food available for your child that they like. We want our kids to try new things but set them up for success by offering new food along with something that you know they enjoy.