We hear a lot in the press about how adults can get clinically depressed or just generally bummed out (yes, that is a technical term) during the holidays.  We parents jump through hoops to create magic for our kids - especially those of us doing the Santa thing - and in the process it may not occur to us that our kids are getting stressed out too.  In our family, the recent challenge has been with traveling, which presents its own version of magic from child’s perspective.  You get in a car or plane, something happens, and then you are in a new place.  But this type of activity overextends kids just as the gift giving phase does as we’ve learned.  This article from CNN highlights the necessity of keeping kids on a schedule during the holidays, and making sure you take the time to understand their pressures and help them stay happy during the hoopla of the holidays.

We’ve been witnessing just how much the excitement of a new place or present can stress kids out, so this article was very timely and interesting to me.  Our situation involved driving a long distance to a city that is unfamiliar to our kids with the hopes of playing in snow (This was a big deal since our home does not have snow as a rule).  We failed to set appropriate expectations as to the length of the drive, and in our defense, the drive turned out a little longer than we had planned due to traffic.  Upon arrival in our destination, it was clear that our children were skeptical of our commitment to take them to the “‘now” as they call it with a silent s.  We did see “‘now” today, and everyone had a blast, so any perceived atrocities have been rectified.  As we head toward New Year’s, this article provides a timely reminder of the need to meter stress producing activities by helping your children maintain a schedule and keeping yourself tuned in to their.behaviors.