Holiday Chaos-Contained Part 1

 Well Hello There!

The weather has changed, it has been raining and Halloween is just around the corner. If you're a teacher or a parent you know that means just one thing....chaos!  

Here are some simple and easy tips to help keep your kids on track during this upcoming holiday season.  They may make your life easier and your child's teacher will thank you as well.  :)

1. Maintain a normal bedtime routine (even during the holiday breaks- as much as possible). Not only does this help ensure your sanity (somewhat) but it also prevents the complete meltdown once you are forced to reinstitute a regular schedule.  For example, during the Winter break I definitely let my kids stay up late some nights.  Key word being...some. The other nights they go to bed as close to their normal bedtime as possible. My kids are in bed typically around 8:00 on school nights. During breaks, I count anytime before 9 as close enough.  
2. Keep the treats to a minimum.  I realize that's easier said than done however, you don't have to give your child a treat every single day.  Or maybe you do. It's totally your call. It's probably best if you refrain from sending the treats to school in your child's lunchbox.  Not only will your child's teacher secretly judge you- but, you're setting your child up to have a rough day, No one does their best work while surfing through on a sugar rush only to be followed by a crash.  It's just not the best nutrition when your child needs to optimize their brain cells.  Save the treats for an actual treat or dole them out at home.  
3. Say no to some things.  This is probably the hardest one for me personally to do.  I love making the holiday's and everything magical for my kids. That often means that I want to do everything all of the time and end up crashing and burning at the end.  I'm learning to say no to certain things that may just add stress to our lives.  My kids don't care if we didn't watch every Halloween movie before October 31st.  When things start to be more stressful than fun, it's time to ditch them. 
4. Have some boring days.  That's right, I said it. Downtime is so important for kids. Particularly when we are in a busy, scheduled time in our lives.  Kids need time to shut down, to have unstructured/unplanned time and to just be at home.  The holiday's tend to be super busy, over scheduled times for many of us and it's ok to just shut everything down for a day and let everyone (yourself included) recharge and just play.  It's fun to see how creative my kids can get when there is "nothing to do."  This is when the forts come out, the hot wheels tracks litter the living room and the best games are imagined.  Seriously try it, you don't regret it!

I realize these tips are not "rocket science" but it's good for all of us to have some reminders now and then.  Also, know that as a teacher I realize this is a busy time. I take that into account when planning my lessons and structuring my day, I know that normal families have to give sugary cereal for breakfast now and then or didn't get to bed on time because they were driving to practices or just decided to have a family movie night.  The beauty of this relationship between parents and teachers is that we give each other grace, we step in for each other when needed and we get to walk on this parenting journey together.

What do you do to keep your children on track during the holidays? Do you let them have a free for all and catch up later or do you keep some structure in your routine?  Let me know in the comments!

With love,

McKenzie