High on candy canes, the remains of a Roses caramel chocolate embedded in her hair and eyes darting back and forth, my five-year-old ran into the room.
“It’s Christmasssss!” she screeched before tripping over a gift and landing head first in the tree. The tree made a lunge for the fire and was rescued just in time by a nearby adult.
One of our bespoke, personalised, handmade Polish glass decorations fell to the ground and shattered. The child whose bauble it was started to wail at the sight of her ball, now a mass of widely-spread dangerous splinters of glass.
‘Another Christmas, another disaster.’ I thought to myself, the breaking of someone else’s glass bauble had now become something of a Christmas tradition in my house.
If only it didn’t also mean panic, tears, tantrums and a big clean up. That said, I was a dab hand after the loss of five such baubles and I dealt with it like a pro.
But there has to be a better way right? Christmas should be more than managing pint-sized, sleep deprived, adrenaline-pumped tyrants shouldn’t it? If this sounds familiar, this article might interest you…
Here’s a list of tips to help kids stay calm over Christmas as there are more than a few days to go.
An obvious one but keep the whole balanced-diet thing going over Christmas so kids don’t have sugar highs followed by them crashing completely. Get the sprouts, or any type of green veg really, into them!
If you haven’t already introduced your kids to the fine art of mindfulness and meditation, Christmas is the perfect time to get them started. There are CDs, books, youtube videos and apps you can get to help, (Headspace is highly recommended).
If this doesn’t work, try reading a good old-fashioned book!
Being cooped up in a house full of flashing lights, with people (who may or may not be of your choosing) for days on end would frazzle the best of us, so get kids outdoors as much as possible over Christmas. Walks in forests, beaches or town parks are a go, and as much running, jumping and skipping as you can fit in.
Consider none or limited screen time and instead play board or card games, or complete a family puzzle together. This has the advantage of being super fun for everyone involved. Plus you see a whole new side of your kids when you play board games with them.
Play with the toys they’ve been given and take time with each one, instead of rushing to the next item. Less frenzied panic, more grateful receiving.
(With heartfelt thanks to the Irish parents who contributed ideas for this piece, Samatha Kenny, Cathy McGlynn, Giovanni Giusti, Jene Hinds Kelly and Irene Doval Marcos.)
