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Are your secretely dreading the kids' Christmas break?

Filed under: Activities: Babies, Places To Go, Childcare

I remember our holiday breaks being times of overwhelming, reckless jubilation. Not only did were we free from school (which was awesome), we were rabidly anticipating the arrival of Christmas, which, at least in our family, is the biggest holiday of the year.

It never occurred to me that our tearing around the house was adding to my parents' holiday stress. They, too, were planning for the holiday, but in grown-up ways -- dealing with family, searching for presents, cramming at the office before vacation, etc. While I'm sure they enjoyed spending more time with us, I bet we were a pretty significant disruption to their daily routine. I can only imagine how much more stressful it would've been had both of my parents been working outside of the home.

This article in Guam's Pacific Daily News offers some practical advice on how to deal with additional stress of having kids around at the holidays. Suggestions like assigning decorating responsibilities to your kids, encouraging an interest in children's charities, or simply allowing for some quality time with the grandparents all seem like viable ways to ease the seasonal tension.

While I'm sure everyone loves spending some extra time with the family around the holidays, I bet we could all use a little advice on how to deal with the stress. Any suggestions?

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Start by teaching him that it is safe to do so.