Tips for Supporting Your Child Through Holiday Hullabaloo

Strategies our Founder Charmaine uses. Sending you much peace and joy. Happy holidays! Learn better. Play smarter. | [View this email in your browser]( Parenting made simpler. Written by experts. Designed for intentional parents. Dear Plinkit readers, We hope you have a special holiday season filled with laughter, good health and beautiful memories. It’s been a year of heavy news headlines and heavy hearts, so we hope you get to hold the ones you love closely and meaningfully. Wherever you may be and however you celebrate, may the spirit of togetherness and hope endure. Wishing you much peace and joy, and we'll see you back here in 2024! With gratitude, mailto:hello@myplinkit.com Founder, Plinkit Tips for Supporting Your Child Through Holiday Hullabaloo For some children, holiday energy is exciting; for others, it’s sensory overload. The noise. The transitions. The physical sea of scurrying adult bodies (which feel very big to our little ones). Upside down routines. Swirly whirly sleeping and eating patterns. It’s no wonder that holiday excitement = behaviors and meltdowns that are "defiant", "moody", "stubborn" and "grumpy" for many children. They’re not being "difficult"; it's their beautiful brains and bodies doing their best to cope and process with the chaos that’s going on around them. Whether you have a preschooler or school-aged child, here’s five practical tips to support your child with finding their peace and calm: 1) Create a private code word: Together, come up a with a private code word that your child can use to signal to you when their internal engine feels out of sorts. They may not know why or how they’re feeling, which is often the case. They just know, "Things don’t feel right inside." A simple signal from them, to you, is a great first step in teaching them to be aware of their internal emotional state. In my family, my children chose the code, "ice cream". When I hear "ice cream", my antenna goes up and I immediately know, "Someone is asking for help." It’s a simple and effective strategy for preventing a tantrum or emotional meltdown. 2) Actively build downtime in your child’s schedule: The hullabaloo of holiday events and gatherings can feel like a tidal wave of transitions for a child. Intentionally creating space in your child’s schedule to [be bored]( decompress and let their minds wander can help them find their balance, and process what’s expected of them during this busy time. Remember the sweet sound of a child singing to themself? That’s the sign of a child in balance. So, I’ll be taking mental note of how many times I hear my children beautifully sing to themselves. 3) Give your child autonomy over something that matters to them: Holiday busyness is rife with telling kids what to do, how to be and how to move at our grown-up speed. But spend five minutes with a child and you’re quickly reminded: kids have a different concept of time and a developmental need for power and control. And when that conflicts with our adult to-do's, the power struggle is ugly. Give your child (limited) options where they can assert their independence on something that matters to them. Whether it’s choosing what to wear, what to eat, where to put a certain toy, that small win to them has a long-run pay-off. 4) Play with them, read with them: ‘Tis the season - read, perfect storm - for getting swept up in a gazillion details that divides our grown-up attention. Staying connected to your child during that swirl, can encourage them to be more cooperative (when you need it most). So, join in that play of building a towering LEGO scape, giggle over a game of Happy Salmon, serve up an imaginary game of restaurant, read together or sing songs together - really, any activity that your child feels is important. You'll get a front-row seat into how your child sees the world, which can be helpful when there's tricky behavior. 5) Praise your child for making good choices: Holiday togetherness requires social skills that can feel tricky for kids - [being patient]( not [interrupting a conversation]( ['sharing' a toy]( or [dealing with sibling rivalry](. So, when you see positive behavior, call it out! Let your child know, "Great job on playing by yourself, while I was busy wrapping presents and dealing with dinner." Or, "Thank you for waiting for me to finish talking with Auntie Jan. How can I help you now?" Or, "I know it was really hard to take a turn with that toy. Well done for using your body and mind." Reinforcing positive behavior is more effective than punishing bad behavior. Keep reading below for more Plinkit articles that can be a timely read during the holidays, like [creating an empowering, self-help Just Right Space]( (a great activity to do together over the holidays), managing tantrums, instilling discipline, introducing chores and much more. 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