10 Tips to Get your Kids through the Holidays
Around this time of year, it is important for parents to maintain their sanity while also continuing to be intentional about the life lessons their children learn. I recently came across an article by Amy Joyce, editor of On Parenting column for the Washington Post containing some great tips on thriving during the holiday season. The whole article is at this link with bullets below.
- Have them help with meal preparation. Take them with you when you shop for the holiday meal and ask for their input there and in the kitchen. Not only will having them do so help them understand and appreciate the hard work that goes into family meals, but it will make them more likely to try new foods over time.
- Role model positive eating by eating normally leading up to (and during) the big meal.
- End the day on a healthy note. Take a walk with everyone after big family dinners. You can enjoy one another’s company, fresh air or the pretty neighborhood lights.
Minimize stress by doing the following…
- Think ahead. Structure the event for the least negative impact on the family’s typical schedule, and prepare the kids for what to expect. (So don’t do dinner at 8 p.m. if you have children who go to bed at 7:30…)
- Clarify your expectations. Give them a timetable, such as: So when we get there, you’ll have time to play with your cousins. And then when it’s dinnertime, we all will sit at the table. I expect you to do that for at least 30 minutes. Then you can go play with everyone again.
- Be realistic. Set developmentally appropriate expectations of, for example, how long your child can actually sit. Think your child can realistically sit nicely for 15 minutes? Focus on that. Want your son to speak kindly to an aunt he doesn’t know? Practice that conversation in advance.
Maximize development of gratitude by doing the following…
- Don’t inundate kids with gifts. When you give too many gifts, the appreciation goes out the window. And kids of any age should definitely say thank you when they get a gift.
- Have a gratitude action. Ask your children to to express appreciation to someone outside of the family who has helped them—the school custodian, the mail carrier, or the bus driver.
- Properly thank people for any gift (especially ones your child may not love). Tell them before you go out that if someone gives them a present, it’s because they like you, and sometimes they might guess wrong. It’s really important that they just thought about you, and they thought they were getting you something you would like. Then demonstrate what you would say: “It was so nice of you to think of me when you got this.”
- Commit to a service or organization as a family.