POSITIVE PARENTING
Holiday Stress? Get Your Family Through in a Breeze By Molly Brousseau
T
he holidays are here and that brings happiness, cheer, and increased family stress. This year in particular may be extra hard on families as they plan their socially distant holiday parties and buying gifts on a tight budget. Here are a few tips on how to skate through this holiday season without losing the little sanity we may have left! First, get rid of expectations and try to relax. Children mimic the behaviors and the attitudes of their parents, so modeling to your children how we
handle stressful situations is particularly important holiday season. during these times. Psychology Today mentions creatHandmade gifts are a great alternative to storeing “happy momentsâ€? to help prevent the increase bought and can also be a great teaching tool. Having a in negative behaviors. This can be done by simply child think up and plan a gift helps with creativity and spending 5 minutes of “special timeâ€? with your child, imagination. Taking your child to the craft store and doing something they love, and giving lots of posiletting them pick out the materials gives them their tive attention. own sense of independence. Great ideas for homemade Make sure to talk to your children about new gifts include hand-painted tote bags, oven mitts, or rules or changes in their normal routine before they decorated picture frames with a family picture inside. encounter new situations. Open conversations help Baking around the holidays is another great way to ease transitions and reduce stress for the whole family. bring the family together and can also double as a fun It is important to be flexible, especially during these and easy gift. Start a new tradition of baking cookies or uncertain times, things creating hot cocoa kits to give to loved ones or service change, so make sure to providers (our amazon workers need treats toođ&#x;˜Š). have a plan B. Managing stress during the holidays can be a Take the focus off difficult task but remember to take a deep breath of gift-giving. Now is a and be grateful for the time spent with our family great time to teach your and loved ones. children the importance â– Molly Brousseau a first time mom and an educator of giving gifts during with over 14 years of experience working with young the holidays. Whether children. She graduated from FIU with her bachelors it’s making something in Elementary Education and has worked teaching for a children’s hospital, children from preschool to elementary levels. She or writing cards for the received her director’s credential and also a National elderly, many organiza- Administrators Certificate and has been directing tions are available to preschool for the last five years. She is currently the help give to the less director at Tiny Planet Preschool and has been since fortunate during the they opened five years ago.
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