Holiday seasons are the most wonderful time of the year but it can get stressful as well with a family gathering, travel plans, huge dinner get-togethers, shopping etc. Taking care of the kids and yet keeping up with all the preparation for the holiday season could easily be overwhelming for the parents as well as children. This stress often leads to jam-packed schedules, mediocrity in preparations, unticked to-do lists and more
Here are 6 practical tips for parents for the holiday season to make it less stressful.
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Avoid lists
Parents often encourage their kids to make a list of gifts they wish to have or places to visit or things to do. The result of this is a long, over-exaggerated, and expensive list that parents strive to fulfil. To avoid this, you can ask your kids to think of those one or two specials they wished for. This will not only make them happy but learn to appreciate what they have along with teaching them the value of money.
Go for experiences more than things
It might not be practical to spend enough time with the kids during the holiday season. But given that they are available for the entire vacation, parents can plan and keep aside that quality time for special experiences. These experiences will stay in the kid’s memories and improve the parent-child bonding as well.
Take out time from overwhelming family gatherings
Family gatherings are often tiring and overwhelming not just for the parents but for the kids too. Setting expectations will help everyone accept what is coming forth. Giving them small responsibilities regarding the gathering is a good way to have their support. Having a few minutes of one-on-one conversations with the kids will help ease the tiredness.
Being a Perfectionist is not mandatory
Moms often strive to make the best meal, the best decoration, and the best Christmas. But all it takes is quality time spent together. So perfect or not, happy parents and happy kids are more important than being the perfect parents and perfect kids. Having a broader perspective will help. Planning a list of chores that can wait and can be taken up after the holiday season will ease some anxiety.
Cook together
The burden of cooking the meal is often all on the mom. Getting the children to work together not only improves the bonding but is also a great way to make the kids practice their math skills and science skills. Also, giving away some tasks to them decreases some of the cooking tasks for the parents and helps build life skill for children.
Take a Minute
Holiday-planning can be stressful with the arrival of relatives, cleaning of the house, preparation of an unrealistic amount of food, and handling the overall chaos of the holiday season. In the midst of all this, it is so easy to get carried away and resort to panicking and worrying. When things start to spiral out of control, it is important to just breathe. Take a breather for yourself and clear your thoughts. You’ll be much more productive when you aren’t carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. It is easy to get caught up in the mayhem in the house, but remember that your well-being is extremely important, and make sure that you keep yourself a priority.
