Christmas can become one of the most stressful times of year very quickly – with work commitments, as well as the worry of where to go on holiday, it can all become too much very quickly.
I stand by the belief that you can improve relationships with your kids through small actions in 5 minutes a day or less, so this article is in hope that you can achieve that on holiday!
If you’re thinking of taking a holiday this festive season with the family, here are a few quick tips about how you can make the holiday time as stress-free as possible.
1. If you don’t know where to go, ask your kids! They might surprise you with their suggestions.
2. Better yet, why not give your pre-teens or teens a chance to make some decisions? Give them a time frame and budget, and let them come up with a travel itinerary. This will help your pre-teens to feel like they have a say in what happens.
3. If you want to avoid a major source of conflict, don’t ban iPods or cell phones – simply dedicate some time to when you can discuss something as a family during the trip, and the rest of the time is your child’s ‘free time’ to do whatever they wish. Everyone will be happier and you all need some ‘quiet time’!
4. If you’re taking your work on holiday, make sure you dedicate your time to it for an X amount of time every day during ‘free time’ – that way you’ll have time to balance out the time you have to work and have fun! If you spend all your time working, your children may wonder why you bothered going on holiday at all.
5. Make a rule that if it’s a family trip, the whole family goes. No exceptions. This way, everyone is clear on the rule and it also narrows your chances of coming back to an un-supervised party house.
6. When conflicts arise, cut them on the spot. Take your child for a walk and have a good chat to them. Make sure that you listen and don’t just talk and that way the problem won’t spoil the whole holiday. It might even bring you closer together and that’s what family holidays are about.
7. Most of all, remember to have fun! Without banning anything, or starting up arguments, remember why you went on holiday, and that was to bond, and have fun!
