Sisters holding hands on walk

The holidays are coming! The holidays are coming!  It can be a very stressful time of the year with the organisation, the cooking, the en-masse family gathering etc. Most of us get together and make lots of plans to see friends as well as making family plans to do lots of things as a family within the home or do activities together outside. Its great to have busy and fun times surrounded by loved ones but the holidays are also a time for relaxing and we need to think about what our children want to do too. With a few weeks to go before the winter break, start to think about what kind of break everyone in your family wants and the family plans you could make.

What Are The Family Plans?

Here’s some things to consider when planning the family calendar:

  • How busy do individual family members want to be?
  • How many plans do you want to have and with who?
  • Who do the children want to see and when?

Discuss as a whole family so that everyone’s needs get met. Christmas can be a busy time and it’s easy to book a calendar full of arrangements but not everyone likes to be busy all the time or if one family member is out too much, they may not have enough family time scheduled in.

If you have children at secondary school who want to see their friends when can they do that? Can their friends come over? When’s the best time for them to visit?

What are your expectations around New Years Eve for your children?  Can the children stay up late to welcome in the New Year? Or would parents prefer to go out and book a babysitter?

All these things need to be thought about and planned out so that everyone’s expectations are met and everyone is happy with the plans.

In our house we are already talking about plans for the holidays and have a sketchy idea. What about you? I’d love to hear how your family plans the Christmas holidays. Leave a comment here or via my social media channels.