How to Help your Children Have a Stress Free Holiday Season

MANY of us either have family coming to visit us here in climate controlled Arizona this fall... or you will be taking an plane, train or automobile to visit family during the holidays

This will not only be wonderful time for making memories but it will also wreck a little havoc on our kids schedules.   They will see folks that may be strangers to them, they will interact with family, visit with cousins, and in the middle of it all, it is a LOT for them to take in over the weeks ahead.  

How can we prepare our kids to handle all this and still have fun and make memories that won’t require therapy later in life?

Talk About the Plan

Kids like adults – they like to know what to expect.  Nobody likes surprises.

Your kids are probably curious right now to know if you are driving, where you are going, who you will be visiting, and who is coming HERE to visit them.

My kids have already asked those. And more.

And, my kids are asking me every day. The same questions.

If family is going to come over and maybe use their space, or if you plan on visiting someone’s house it’s great to tell them ahead of time and prepare them for what is coming up.

Are you going to Aunt Kathy’s house?  Aunt Kathy has cats … you may not.  Therefore, it may be  a great idea to review cat etiquette with the kids (there IS such a thing…) – what do cats like anyway?  Uncle Tom’s house has dogs, therefore the same theory applies.

(For us, this is always an ever-going lesson. We don’t have pets, those whom we visit DO, and my smallest two love to pull tails, and rough play – but they also need to know the boundaries, too.)

What about elderly grandparents, great uncles, or even great grandparents?  It would be great to tell our kids if our older family members have gone through illness or a change in their circumstance.  

Maybe someone is in a wheelchair, or… severely limited in their ability to care for themselves.  It’s great to talk about it now so that the kids aren’t shocked, or in some cases scared, of what they might see.  

When my Uncle lost his leg due to diabetes, we talked to the kids about it before going to visit.   Thankfully they had just watched How To Train Your Dragon so they had a starting point to help understand the situation.

If Traveling, BE PREPARED

Make sure to have snacks, favorite toys, downloaded movies on to tablets and chargers on hand to keep the kids content on route. 

Make sure to make a list, need some ideas?  Check out our post on Tips for Traveling with Kids at the Holidays.

Don’t Over Schedule

When we go back home for the holidays we want to see EVERYONE.  If we schedule back to back to back visits we are going to be setting up the kids for a real stressful time.  

If we aren’t careful we can get our kids over stressed, cranky and burned out during our time away from home.  Your family needs to understand that kids can’t be pulled everywhere, so maybe they will be willing to visit YOU at a designated location – after all, YOU made the effort to drive to them.

Try to Keep {Somewhat} of a Normal Schedule

If your kids go to bed normally at 9 pm it’s not reasonable for us to expect them to stay up for week until midnight.  

If you are staying at grandma’s house set up a reasonable bedtime for the kids and then you can still enjoy catching up time at home with friends and family.   OR if grandma is really brave …..leave her in charge once the kids are in bed ASLEEP and hit up a local pub/bar/restaurant with an adult only group of friends.

If your child needs a nap each day, make sure to allow for that time for them.  Expecting them to be okay and happy after sleeping in the car for 20 minutes won’t be enough. 

Older kids also need downtime.  Make sure to give them that when possible so they can listen to some music, watch a favorite show or just zone out for 30 minutes with a book.  This is especially true if they are dealing with a gaggle of younger cousins.  They might crank up the energy button and go hog wild for a few hours, but I can guarantee you that that button will eventually break and the entire world will come crashing down.

Prepare the kids for Presents

There are ALWAYS going to be presents that the kids won’t like.  Therefore, it would be a great time to approach this subject with them.   Don’t forget your older kids too – the 12 year old that gets a Barbie or Reindeer from Aunt Sylvia may need some prior advice on how to handle that gift with grace.

Its also a great idea to bring along some child friendly thank you cards.  It’s a dying art really, one that I’ve been teaching the kids since they could write.

Here are 2 great printables we made for you to use during the Holidays (or, any time for that matter!)

Plan for Kid Fun

When we go anywhere I make sure to use Google and find a great local park, Zoo or something I know my kids will love.

Before we moved to Phoenix, we considered Tucson —  I booked one of our stays at a Railroad-Themed bed and breakfast.

When we went to Albuquerque, I made sure to take the kids to the Zoo.  On drives back to SoCal we love to stop and see those big dinosaurs outside of Palm Springs.

Even if it’s their favorite restaurant, remember its their vacation too — so make sure to take their likes into consideration.