You Deserve A Break
Gregory K. Moffatt, Ph.D.
Remember the old McDonald's commercial? "You deserve
a break today…" I know we can be egocentric sometimes
and I'm quite certain that McDonald's isn't my idea of a break,
but after a busy fall, a break sounds pretty good. Our children
get a break from school during the holidays, but I'm not so sure
the holidays qualify as a break for most adults.
Once the holiday season starts, the life of a parent goes into
overdrive. On top of all the normal things we have to do, we add
Christmas shopping, parties, decorating, cooking, traveling, and
children at home for several weeks. As exciting as the holidays
are, it can be exhausting. It is no wonder that when January rolls
around and the kids go back to school, we sometimes have a sense
of relief as things get things back to normal.
The holidays haven't even started and I realized just tonight how tired I already am. It is wrestling season in the middle and high schools and I've been to several matches recently. In just four minutes a wrestler uses every ounce of energy. Sometimes they are so tired after those four minutes that they barely have enough energy left to raise their arms. I get tired just watching them.
There are some families that are like that. Their children demand so much energy from them that by the end of the day, parents barely has enough energy left to raise their arms. I've watched many of these families with high energy children at shopping malls and grocery stores and just like a wrestling match, I get tired just watching them.
This holiday season plan ahead so that you not are exhausted by the time the New Year arrives. Here are some ideas:
Plan out your holiday with your kids and be sure to include time for yourself and your spouse. Schedule at least one or two nights for just the two of you. Hire a babysitter and have some quiet time. If you can't afford it, plan a DVD movie night for just the children and tell them you and your spouse don't want to be disturbed for a couple of hours. I'm not crazy about using the TV as a babysitter, but sometimes it isn't a bad idea. Another idea is to tag team with other parents. Find two or three parents with kids that age of your children and trade sitter nights. If you involve three families, you'll get two free nights alone for the cost of watching several kids just one night.
Go slow and pace yourself. Plan a couple of days to go on a picnic or spend the afternoon at a park or the lake. No TV, video games, iPods, or telephones. Solitude is rejuvenating.
Schedule a routine for each day, especially for younger children. When they know what they are supposed to do each day it will make behavior management much easier. Make sure to plan time for chores for each of your children. Even young children can take part in household clean-up. Plan time for reading and playing as well. If your kids like the Internet, there are tons of fun sites that can provide creative activities for them. For example, just type "Internet scavenger hunt" in Google and you will get dozens of hits to fun educational activities your kids can do.
Finally, don't feel like you have to do it all. You don't
have to go to every party, every church activity, and every event.
Pick the ones that fit your schedule and politely turn down the
ones that don't. Enjoy the holidays with your family and make
sure you save some energy to sit in front of the tree just to
watch the lights twinkle. You deserve a break. Make sure you get
one.