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It might seem like just a few weeks ago we were all saying goodbye to summer, and children were going back to school. One look at the calendar however and we can see that in reality, the holidays are just around the corner. Do you love the IDEA of holidays but dread the REALITY of the work and stress associated with them? Take a few minutes and consider some of these ideas to help you lose the headache and celebrate the happiness.

Narrow down what is important to you. Think
about what you want your children to remember someday. Re-visit your own
favorite childhood childhood memories and think about how you might want to
incorporate a few special holiday traditions. Any traditions you DIDN’T like?
Let go of them. One man’s tradition is another man’s torture.Make a list of your “must haves.” Do you want
house decorations? Do you have a favorite holiday movie that gets you in the
mood? What foods do you associate with happy memories?Consider rotating some traditions. You may not
want to go see “The Nutcracker” every year……Don’t over spend. Decide what is a realistic
budget and stick to it. It’s easy to get carried away with holiday shopping but
in the long run, you’ll only add to your stress when bills arrive.Be flexible. If the movie you were all going to
see as a family is sold out, make another choice. The important thing is to enjoy
the time as a family.Think family and friends. Spend time with the
people who are important to you.Be in the moment. In all the frenzy holidays can
bring, we can forget to savor what we planned and prepared. Slow down. Sit
back. Enjoy. Appreciate and give back. One of the greatest
things you can do for your children […]

It never seems to fail. As soon as you start an adult conversation with someone, your child appears and begins demanding your immediate attention. While you no doubt find this behavior extremely annoying, the bottom line is that many adults are frequent “interrupters” too. If we want our children to grow up to be polite people with solid social skills, we can start to teach some basics early on.

Babies and young toddlers rely on adults for everything. When they have a need, they often try to make that known to us immediately and we generally respond right away. As children grow into two and three year olds, they can already start the process of seeing that sometimes there is a brief wait for the attention of adults. A great technique to begin teaching at this stage is the “hand on the arm.” How does it work? When the child approaches you and begins interrupting you, show them how to place their hand on your forearm (which you make easily available to them.) Teach them that this is their way to politely tell you they want your attention.  Next, you put your other hand on top of the one they have on your arm. Tell them that that’s YOUR signal that you will be with them in a minute. Practice, practice, practice. It won’t happen overnight, but they will begin to use the technique if you consistently reinforce it. At first, try to respond very quickly to them when you get their “signal” but as they get older and more adept at it, you can gradually increase the time before you respond to them.

One last thing? Be a good example yourself. Try to become more […]

Before you know it, the holiday shopping frenzy will be starting. This is a great time to plan ahead if you feel that gift-giving  for your children got a little out of hand last year. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the season and spend far more than we should on gifts. Parents often find that when their children receive an abundance of gifts, it creates higher and higher expectations each year. The more gifts received, the less children seem to appreciate each individual one. In addition, when excessive spending occurs, a great deal of stress for adults can follow when reality hits and credit card bills arrive in January.

For some families, the issue may be other relatives or family friends who “over-gift.” For others, they themselves are the source of the avalanche of presents. Take a good look at your feelings on this topic and create an action plan now so you can be better prepared.

First up, communicate with those friends or family members who buy gifts for your child. Tell them very directly that while you appreciate their generosity, you are trying to scale things back a little to help your child be more appreciative.  Ask if they have something in mind already or if they would welcome  a suggestion of something your child might enjoy. If the person lives near you, an alternative to a gift could also be spending time together, like a movie date or meal out somewhere that the child enjoys.

For yourself, follow your own advice and keep purchasing reasonable. Make lists and write down every gift purchased so you have a running list of what you have already bought. Set a budget for […]