Parenting Tips for the Holiday Season

The folks at WebMD had these tips to help reduce the stress of the holiday season.

You know the drill: The "gimmes," the sugar meltdowns, the "are we there yets?" Then there is the awkward problem of divorce and how to apportion time and attention. Kids reach a high pitch of excitement and sometimes invent surprising new behaviors that require your best holiday parenting skills.  Try these three simple tips to make this a more positive, happier holiday season.

Give the Pleasure of Giving

"Children will model your behavior," Newman says. "If you bake for the homeless shelter (and they help) or if you visit people in the hospital, they will remember that. These patterns stick."

Keep Routines as Best You Can

Newman suggests bedtimes be maintained, even if relatives plead, "Let them stay up, it's the holiday." People need sleep, she says, even adult people. "The next day is a holiday, too," Newman says, "no one wants to deal with sleep-deprived kids. You do them a disservice if you allow them to stay up."

Start Your Own Traditions

Besides joking about holiday stress, you can start some other traditions:

• Go to the Nutcracker, a lighting ceremony or just drive around to see house lighting
• Build a snowman
• Open an Advent card
• Go to church or synagogue

Gift Giving Made Simple

During the holidays many families struggle trying to teach their children the spirit of giving, instead of spirit of wanting.  While it is fun to buy gifts, their is often a sense of entitlement, the constraints of a tight budget and sometimes it seems impossible to not by "just one last thing!"  A staff member at BHF found the following guide for gift giving, as a simple, practical tool to help parents and children set boundaries around the holiday season.

Each child, or family members receives:

1 Thing they Want,

1 Thing they Need,

1 Thing to Wear

1 Thing to Read.

Not only does this make shopping simple and practical, but celebrates literacy and a life-long love of learning.