FAMILY MENTAL WELLNESS
Cultivating calm Tips to help kids manage holiday stress
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Focus on quality, not quantity. Holidays can cause a sensory overload with all of the sounds, lights, sweets and events. Try not to dump all of this on your child in one day but instead choose your favorite traditions, spaced out throughout the season. Parents often get caught up in the excitement or expectation of wanting their kids to experience every possible holiday event or memory-making experience. But what kids will remember most are happy times spent with those they love. Ensure your child is getting enough rest and nutritious foods, and try to keep their schedules as close to normal as possible. Know your child’s limits. We know our children best and can often predict when behaviors may happen or what might trigger a behavior. Some children need a lot of downtime or opportunities to recharge, so building those into the family routine is important. Most children thrive in a predictable schedule, and when that is thrown out of whack, challenging behaviors can follow. While we can’t control all the triggering events that may occur, anticipating them and trying to limit them can be a tremendous help to lowering kids’ holiday stress.
All is NOT calm in my household this holiday season, and I’d venture to guess the same is true of yours. More treats, later nights, holiday traditions … plus navigating the challenges of seeing family and seasonal events in the midst of a pandemic. While the holidays are certainly full of fun, meaningful and magical moments, they’re also stressful — and not just for adults. Kids can be prone to more challenging behaviors, meltdowns, stress and anxiety, too. Throw in a pandemic and it COULD be a recipe for disaster, but it doesn’t have to be. We asked registered behavior therapist Jeanae Neal for her top tips in helping mitigate kids’ holiday stressors, creating a calmer household for the whole family.
38 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / DECEMBER 2020
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