Ah, Christmas. Once a season dominated by parties that involved quantities of mulled wine and my boss dancing on the table (yes, that really happened), these days Christmas is more of a season of wonder, delight and high excitement on my daughter’s behalf, and a little more stress and high expectations on my behalf.
Parenting during the holidays certainly has its share of difficulties. Maybe you’ll be traveling by air to visit relatives, being a guest in someone’s home or hosting guests yourself. Maybe you’ll be far from your extended families, or inundated by them. And there are the issues of gifts, candy, Santa, religion and giving to charity to sort out as well, not to mention the challenges of staying within budget.
Here are some of the best resources I’ve found to help make parenting during the holidays as smooth as possible. Some of these have already made an appearance in some of my Weekend Links posts, but I thought it would still be helpful to group them together with the others in a single post.
Traveling and Hosting
- Prepare Your House for Holiday Guests – Simple Mom
4 Tips for Talking to Relatives About Homeschooling This Holiday Season – Simple Homeschool
Fun Things to Take Along When Traveling With Kids – Hobo Mama
How to Be a Guest in Someone Else’s Home – Simple Mom
Crafts, Activities and Traditions
- Felt Gnome Tutorial – Wee Folk Art
Easy, Green Ideas for Family Christmas Fun – From my archives on the Parenting Resources page at Suite101
Green Christmas Ideas – Another oldie but goodie from my Suite101 archives
We Don’t Do Santa – Code Name: Mama
I do, I do, I do Believe in Santa Claus! – Baby Dust Diaries
Gifts and Sweets
- Managing Sweets – Raise Healthy Eaters
Teaching Children About Giving to Charity – Parenting Resources @ Suite101
Non-Sexist Holiday Shopping: Is It Possible? – PhD in Parenting
Whether you’ve decided to do Santa or not, indulge in free-for-all candy eating on Christmas Day or continue to stick to everyday limits on sweets, the key to smooth parenting during the holidays is found by listening to your intuition and sticking to what is really important to you and your family. It is easy to overindulge or commit to doing too much at Christmas, but even simple celebrations can be meaningful and memorable. So take a deep breath in, and breathe out slowly. Only 22 more days till Christmas!
How do you handle the holidays? Share your best tips and resources in the comments!
I'm Michelle Carchrae, the mama in the vortex. I'm glad you're here!
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Thanks for the mention! Managing sweets is certainly important during the holidays
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