Looking back on our recent Christmas celebrations, I am happy to share that the holiday season went realatively well. Holidays are a huge source of stress especially for our house-hold. We purchased a new home almost two months ago so we were a little excited to host Christmas celebrations at our house and my husband is awesome in the kitchen. We committed to two of them (we normally have four total). Since I knew family that had not yet seen our new home were coming, I thought I needed to have every nook and crany cleaned and organized in case they happened to check out our new closet space! With two young children around, cleaning is sort of unproductive. I also struggle with wanting things to be perfectly in there place.
Social situations are not always enjoyable. Not due to anyones' fault. When someone has social anxiety it really doesn't have anything to do with anyone else. It is a feeling that overwhelms the body and produces physical symptoms. I thought a list of things that have helped our family would be great to share:
- PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! One of my strengths is organization and planning. Most of the time it makes my family a bit crazy but planning out events and making lists saves us alot of heartache (and money). I basically did event planning for each Christmas. I also had my Christmas gift list ready to shop with. Menu planning helps us not spend too much and also keep track of who is bring what.
- Find time to relax. Try to stick to your normal routine as much as possible. Don't push back the kids' bedtime because "it's Christmas". Everyone is already hyped up, normal bed times help! Also, don't feel bad about taking a 30 minute break to watch your favorite show or play a game on your phone.
- Find someone to watch the kids while you do shopping, cook or clean. Swap times with another parent and help each other out. Grandparents are great too!
- Have the family help! There are loads of things children can do to pitch in. My children always have fun when we make it a competition. "Who can pick up the most things" is fun and very quick!
- Be understanding. I know that look my husband gives me when he's had enough. Allow for a timeout and don't get bent out of shape about it. Eric likes to slip away for just a little bit to breath. He'll take the dog out, go get a pop at the local gas station, things like that. He always comes back and can carry on with the celebration.
No comments:
Post a Comment