Top tips for the countdown to Christmas
A note to you lovely parents, as the countdown to Christmas continues, stop comparing your everyday reality to other people’s highlights. Accept fun times and happy times for what they are. In each home, reality includes struggles, and challenges are taking place even if it is a holiday and all of our realities are different. Just because it is Christmas doesn’t mean everybody is happy and well-behaved like in the John Lewis adverts. Children misbehave more when hungry, tired, excited, and full of sugar.
As parents, Christmas is a special time; we want it to be so magical and sometimes forget the reality. As a result, we focus on the negatives and are even more stressed as we want it to be so lovely and end up losing it and feeling guilty because it is Christmas.
Here are a few tips to help you through the Christmas Stress: –
- Focus on being a good parent, not a perfect one, and creating a good Christmas not a perfect one.
- Be consistent, discipline in the same manner as you usually do as much as possible.
- Discipline should be Firm, Fair and Friendly
- Remember that your behaviour is a model for your children’s behaviour.
- Make it clear what is unacceptable behaviour instead of saying, “Don’t be rude!” Rude should be specified in terms of what is meant: ” Calling your sister rude and disrespectful names, answering me back, and not listening to instructions is unacceptable.
- Break the behaviour into smaller and more manageable chunks.
- Focus on the positive and praise the smallest steps towards the desired goal.
- Take time out for you
- Enjoy your planned activities and cherish the memories of the things you get to do with children in the primary years