The holidays are here, and that means kids out of school and lots of time to be shared between parents and children. Parenting can be difficult at any age, and relationships can be easily strained when the stress and hustle & bustle of the holidays are upon us.
This Christmas season, there are five things you must do for your child(ren).
The first of which is to compliment them. And when you compliment them, I want to encourage you to do it at least 5 times a day. They don’t need to be overpraised for the little things like putting their mess away, but they do need encouragement. For some parents this can be hard. Maybe they weren’t brought up with hearing compliments and they don’t know how to give them. Maybe they learned that silence about a job meant well done because the expectation was to do a good job.
I talk to kids everyday, and often I tell them that they are going to be a “chain breaker.” When they tell me how their parents treat them or how their parents have “messed up,” I encourage them to learn from it and be different with their own children and in their own lives.
If you are a parent who didn’t hear compliments when you were growing up, it’s time for you to be a chain breaker. Here are some ways that you can encourage your child this holiday season and every day in the future.
1. Compliment your child in front of others. Talk positively in front of Uncle Johnny, the cousins from back home, grandparents, friends, and neighbors.
2. Let your face light up when they walk in the room. Every.time.
3. Tell your child often how much you love him or her. Say, “I love you unconditionally. I will always love you, no matter what.”
4. When you child does something right, tell him/her. For example, “I like the way you swept the back porch.” or “Thank you for helping me set the table. You did a good job.”
5. Be sincere. Say what you mean, mean what you say. Kids can tell if you’re just saying something to get them to behave a certain way.
If you haven’t seen the movie, The Help, I encourage you to see it this Christmas. (It’s as good as the book. I promise!) In this movie clip, you can see how Aibileen understands the importance of complimenting the little girl, Mae Mobley.
I encourage you to shoot for 5 times a day that you give compliments to your kids. Let me know how it goes.
Our family loves to watch Christmas movies together during the holidays. Here are our top 5, in no particular order. We watch these every year, and more than once!
If you are looking for ways to have less stress this holiday season, I’ve got a tip for you. This season, write down the three things that mean the most to you about the season, or the three things that are most important to you regarding the holiday season.
Then, as you go through the season and make decisions about what you will or won’t do… ask if the actions will line up with the things that are important to you. If the actions/invitations/tasks line up with your list, by all means do them. If they don’t line up… it’s okay to say no.
For example, let’s say one of the things you write down is connecting with friends you don’t get to see very often. Then by all means go to the holiday parties, visit your friends, have coffee, go on shopping dates, etc.
Let’s say that for you, one thing that is important to you is cooking. You like to cook for the family, you like to bake goodies to give as gifts, etc. By all means, DO THAT. But, if that is not something that is on your list, don’t break your neck in the kitchen trying to get the perfect dessert for the office Christmas party. (Go by the local bakery, put on a pretty serving tray, and bingo! You got it!)
I hope this tip is helpful. Let us know what you’ve discovered that keeps you sane and stress-free during the holiday season.
If you’re a Strong Mother like me, you don’t want to spend your time shopping for Christmas decorations, yet you want your home to be warm and inviting with reminders of the season all around.
I’m so in love with (and grateful to) all the bloggers who post free printables at this time of the year. They have the best ideas and it allows the rest of us to save money as well as time!
So…. since this is the last month of the year, I thought I would create two printables for you. One is a Gratitude List, where you and your family can record daily the things for which you are grateful.
The other is a “Random Acts of Kindness” list, where you and your family can record the Random Acts of Kindness you do each day. If you’re like my friend Susan, you have a Christmas memory book. This is a great place to tuck in the lists and read over them each year.
