HOW TO MAKE CHRISTMAS STRESS-FREE FOR MY CHILDREN?

“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly MERRY CHRISTMAS.”

PEG BRACKEN

The Christmas season is about spending time with family and friends, exchanging gifts, eating good food, and having fun. But for many people and children, Christmas can be an experience of mixed bad emotions. Bad emotions unfortunately contribute to increased levels of stress during this period. https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/my-attempts-to-survive-new-christmas-traditions/

As a parent, I started noticing that my children also behave differently around the Christmas season. They are less resistant to emotions and cry more often in trivial situations. For example, Patrick cried one Christmas because the gingerbread man was supposed to have green eyes, not blue. I will add that my children decorated the gingerbread and chose eye colours.

All the silly situations where my kids were anxious and stressed happened every year at Christmas. I found a few ways to improve my children’s well-being during Christmas, which became more enjoyable for my whole family.

Follow the list below to make Christmas stress-free for your kids.

AVOID EXCESSIVE VISITS

 I know Christmas is a very important time for you and your family members. Try to organize your visits and activities so that they don’t overwhelm you and your child. During the Christmas period, a time of peace is especially needed by your children.

STAY CALM 

Christmas time disturbs our home routine, and too many new activities (baking, cooking, decorating) negatively affect children’s anxiety levels. To minimize stress, try to keep elements of your home rituals, such as a warm bath or reading in the evening.

FAMILY CHRISTMAS COOPERATION

A great antidote to stress and beautiful Christmas days is to help each other. Every year, together with my children, we prepare gingerbread, bake it, and decorate them together. When decorating the Christmas tree, we talk a lot about Christmas, visiting family, Santa Claus, and gifts. Believe that a calm conversation with your child and working together reduces stress levels. The more they know how Christmas will go, the more joy and anxiety they feel.

REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SWEETS

Sometimes it’s hard, because even on my Christmas tree, children hang candies, and Christmas gifts from grandparents also contain sweets.  Unfortunately, sweets increase activity in children, and children feel uncomfortable and angry without exercise.

TIME OUTSIDE

Fresh air and exercise are essential for improving your mood, metabolism, and mental balance. Plan some time to play outside with your children to ease Christmas stress and anxiety, not just for kids.

GIFT DAY

I moved my family tradition of giving gifts to the family on Christmas Eve (Polish tradition) to the morning of the next day – Christmas Day (English tradition).

And that has had a huge impact on my children’s well-being. There were no problems with eating a Christmas Eve dinner, there was no running to the windows and doors to see if Santa was already on his way. Children got a few gifts adapted to the evening time. The best calmy gift idea is books, puzzles, teddy bears instead of a scooter, cars, and pistols. This kind of gift was waiting for them under the Christmas tree in the morning. The less distracting and exciting gifts they received, the easier they went to sleep and were conflict-free.

REMEMBER ABOUT YOURSELF

Don’t forget about yourself, busy moms, during the Christmas season. Leave your children with their grandparents, closest friends, or family members for a while. Take a moment to admire the wonderfully decorated home. Let’s enjoy a beautiful, real Christmas tree with sweet-smelling gingerbread. Feel the festive atmosphere that should be fun, cheerful, and stress-free.

Merry Christmas to all my readers and thank you so much for being with me.