Twitter: @crunchiekatie
The festive holiday season is often portrayed in films as
the perfect family time with snow falling outside and families gazing lovingly
as children excitedly open their presents by the tree. This means that parents
often feel under pressure to try to make everything ‘Christmas card’ perfect. However,
parents can often feel that they are juggling multiple activities such as
cooking or worrying about welcoming guests instead of enjoying their time with
their children. Here are some suggestions and helpful hints to enable you to
make the most of your holiday period.
1. It’s not all about the presents
Children often enjoy
the process of opening presents rather than playing with what is inside. Think
about presents that you can buy more of but can wrap individually. For example,
books are often reasonably priced so they can help with keeping costs down and
will be much-loved gift enabling your child to spend time with you sharing the
book together for weeks, months and years to come. Try to give children ‘project
presents’ ahead of the celebration meal. These could be low-mess high-interest
activities which a child can do independently, for example something which
involves colouring. This means that the children will be involved in exciting
new tasks, leaving you free to carry out any last-minute preparations. For
example, colouring and decorating paper placemats for themselves and visitors.
We can all feel the pressure to provide a picture-perfect
banquet fit for social media. Try to think about what food can be prepared
prior to the day of celebrations. For example, can roast potatoes be peeled and
pre-boiled the day before? This is something which will help you to balance
your time cooking with spending time with your family and guests. As suggested
in the first tip, give children small, fun tasks to help with the arrangements.
Why not check out some of our 125 winter activities to
do with teaching? You could also ask visiting adults that the children are
familiar with to carry out some of these whilst you may be busy.
3. It’s not about trying to please everyone
The Christmas period often means spending time with
relatives and friends whom you may not see as often as you’d like. This can
leave us feeling like we are running a gauntlet of trying to visit people,
often in unfamiliar surroundings for our little ones. It is okay to ensure you
have regular windows of time where you can spend quality time at home and
keeping in time with your little one’s routines of bedtimes and eating. Hugging
unfamiliar relatives can also be daunting and confusing for young children. A
thank you, wave or blowing a kiss is okay (why not see our previous blog on The
Power of Hugs).
4. It’s about time with family
Children value time spent with others. Activities that are
full of language can often be the most memorable Christmas moments for
children. For example, going out for a walk and talking about experiences from
earlier in the day. This is also a great way to use additional energy from the
excitement of Christmas and the higher levels of sugar if they have had ‘treat’
foods. My children often discuss times spent playing their favourite board
games as a family and the laughter involved, especially when someone was found
not to be playing ‘strictly’ by the rules. Remember: board games should be fun
so you may have to adapt rules and instructions to fit with the stage of
understanding of your little ones. Children remember the fun times!
5. It's about making memories
As mentioned above, children cherish your time and moments
spent together. Children don’t remember the under-par roast potato, the lumpy
gravy or a dry turkey. Instead, they do remember the way their parent smiled as
they excitedly unwrapped their presents rather than what was inside the box.
How happy times were spent with the people they love when walking off their
Christmas dinner, and sharing experiences through games and activities.
Remember everything doesn’t have to be perfect for sharing on social media. In
fact, the best times are spent away from these platforms. Instead, connect with
the people around you and enjoy having moments that your children will cherish
for a lifetime to come.
On behalf of myself and everyone at Norland; we wish
you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy new year.
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