A couple of months ago, we wrote a post about the Top 5 Back to School Tips from One Heart Therapists. We thought it would be a good time to check back in about those! And to support you in starting to consider what your holiday season is going to look like and how some thinking ahead can be beneficial.
Let’s start with checking in about how the school year is going so far:
ONE: Goals and intentions for the school year
Did you and your family set any goals or intentions for the new school year? How are those going?
Do you or any of your children need any extra support to reach those goals?
Would tutoring be helpful? Would Educational Therapy be beneficial? We wrote an article about that here.
Do you guys need any changes to your after school routine or homework routine?
What’s working? What’s not working?
TWO: Bed times or screen time
As families get more stressed, things like bed time or screen time can get a little lax. Or, you can see how many there need to be some changes now that we’re a few months into the school year. Maybe everyone needs more rest or an adjustment on screen time.
THREE: New responsibilities and freedoms
Was there anything you and your kids were thinking they might take on as a new responsibility? Like, maybe they were going to take on packing their lunch or learning how to do laundry. How is that going?
What new freedoms come along with those new responsibilities?
Planning for the holidays:
ONE: Plan activities for your family. Or not!
Knowing that there is going to be some time off of school coming up, are you feeling like you want to plan any camps or holiday/post holiday activities?
Are you feeling like you want to make sure to keep enough space in your schedules so everyone has a chance to relax?
TWO: Build in extra time.
You might be making some travel plans. Even though you and your spouse and your kids might be total troopers, why not build in some extra space/time around travel?
Maybe that means making sure you make no plans for the day before or after you fly.
Maybe that means you decline some invitations.
When schedules are packed and people are rushed, those are when break downs happen. It can bring up anxiety in kids, overwhelm in parents and just unpleasant times all around. Consider building in some space so things can go a little more smoothly.
THREE: Take care of you.
Getting to connect with family and friends and celebrating the holidays can be as wonderful as it can be triggering or stressful.
Make sure you build in some activities that take care of you so you can enjoy your holiday season. Watch out for productivity mode that has you doing one billion things so you can have all your holiday ducks in a row. Being loving and available to enjoy is more important than any THING, isn’t it? Sometimes we all need to be reminded of that.
Also, if you often have triggers come up around seeing family or being in social situations, it would be a good time to prepare for those in case they come up. Talk with a therapist, jounral about what has come up in the past and how you want to do it differently, engage in an online challenge for creating peaceful holidays.
