8 TIPS THAT CAN HELP YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN ENJOY THE HOLIDAY SEASON MORE
1. Scale Back: The holiday season is all about celebration of life, so don’t let the extra holiday backing, gift shopping, or decorating take the life energy out of you. Take it easy and make sure you leave some time to enjoy yourself and your family.
2. Less Is More: When you choose a gift, make sure that it will involve an experience that will create lifelong memories. By next year most of children probably won’t remember even a half of the toys receive Christmas morning. Try giving gifts that would involve some activity, a local trip, or a game that families can play together, so everyone can remember it to the rest of their life.
3. Keep your Children Busy: Checkout online some fun crafting projects ideas, or organize homemade ornament contest or even a puppet show that brings all family members together. If crafting and creativity is not your thing, check out your local Michael’s or Home Depot for crafting classes and clinics. Engage your children in everyday household activities and allow them to contribute to wellbeing of the family. It also will teach them about importance to giving and doing something for others.
4. Avoid Family Conflicts: When you finally get together with you family, leave unresolved issues for privacy of your therapist’s office and the other 364 days of the year. Focus on having a good time rather than sorting out your relationships.
5. Collaborate on Festivities: If you have small children hosting a dinner or a party might be a greater challenge than you need. Instead of trying to prepare it all by yourself invite your guests to bring hors d'oeuvres or desserts; or ask them arrive earlier to help you with cooking. After all, the holidays are all about helping others.
6. See the World through Your Child’s Eyes: Take your children sledding, tubing, or skating. Visit a light show, or a Christmas parade in downtown. If such things are not available in your area, take them for a walk or a drive in the nicely decorated neighborhood. Kids and small children are easily impressed and will be delighted about the experience. Challenge yourself to find a little holiday magic too!
7. Create Traditions That Make Sense to Your Family: The holiday season is full of traditions. Some of those traditions, which we enjoy dearly, were passed down to us by our parents and grandparents; however, they might not make sense to our current family anymore. Observe your children and listen to your partner; and together you can create new enjoyable traditions that would involve your family’s favorite things and activities. And, of course, keep the old sentimental ones that feel right too.
8. Give Yourself Time to Relax: Give yourself a break and do things that make you merry. Take a hike, get a coffee at your favorite cafe, or have a movie watching marathon. If you are emotionally uncomfortable, children can sense the tension coming from you and are more likely to act out. Neither you nor your children would enjoy the holiday break if you under a lot of stress. Make sure you take time to enjoy things you love the most. And finally, if during this holiday season you are not feeling jolly, it’s okay to feel the emotion that is natural to you at that time. Permit yourself to experience the feeling that is on your heart.
1. Scale Back: The holiday season is all about celebration of life, so don’t let the extra holiday backing, gift shopping, or decorating take the life energy out of you. Take it easy and make sure you leave some time to enjoy yourself and your family.
2. Less Is More: When you choose a gift, make sure that it will involve an experience that will create lifelong memories. By next year most of children probably won’t remember even a half of the toys receive Christmas morning. Try giving gifts that would involve some activity, a local trip, or a game that families can play together, so everyone can remember it to the rest of their life.
3. Keep your Children Busy: Checkout online some fun crafting projects ideas, or organize homemade ornament contest or even a puppet show that brings all family members together. If crafting and creativity is not your thing, check out your local Michael’s or Home Depot for crafting classes and clinics. Engage your children in everyday household activities and allow them to contribute to wellbeing of the family. It also will teach them about importance to giving and doing something for others.
4. Avoid Family Conflicts: When you finally get together with you family, leave unresolved issues for privacy of your therapist’s office and the other 364 days of the year. Focus on having a good time rather than sorting out your relationships.
5. Collaborate on Festivities: If you have small children hosting a dinner or a party might be a greater challenge than you need. Instead of trying to prepare it all by yourself invite your guests to bring hors d'oeuvres or desserts; or ask them arrive earlier to help you with cooking. After all, the holidays are all about helping others.
6. See the World through Your Child’s Eyes: Take your children sledding, tubing, or skating. Visit a light show, or a Christmas parade in downtown. If such things are not available in your area, take them for a walk or a drive in the nicely decorated neighborhood. Kids and small children are easily impressed and will be delighted about the experience. Challenge yourself to find a little holiday magic too!
7. Create Traditions That Make Sense to Your Family: The holiday season is full of traditions. Some of those traditions, which we enjoy dearly, were passed down to us by our parents and grandparents; however, they might not make sense to our current family anymore. Observe your children and listen to your partner; and together you can create new enjoyable traditions that would involve your family’s favorite things and activities. And, of course, keep the old sentimental ones that feel right too.
8. Give Yourself Time to Relax: Give yourself a break and do things that make you merry. Take a hike, get a coffee at your favorite cafe, or have a movie watching marathon. If you are emotionally uncomfortable, children can sense the tension coming from you and are more likely to act out. Neither you nor your children would enjoy the holiday break if you under a lot of stress. Make sure you take time to enjoy things you love the most. And finally, if during this holiday season you are not feeling jolly, it’s okay to feel the emotion that is natural to you at that time. Permit yourself to experience the feeling that is on your heart.
RECOGNIZING SEXUAL TRAUMA IN CHILDREN
One of the worst fears that a parent has is that their child will be sexually abused. In order to protect our children, it’s crucial to teach them about the difference between good touch and bad touch as well as about characteristics of potential perpetrators and dangerous situations when the sexual abuse can happen. Not everything is in our control and no matter how hard we try to keep our children safe, bad things can happen.
It’s important to recognize signs of sexual abuse and stop it as soon as possible. Sexual abuse has a tremendous impact on child’s life. In most serious cases, children who are victims of sexual abuse often also exposed to a variety of other stressful and traumatic events. The effects of abuse range from separation anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder. Those effects can eventually lead to a spiral of serious health problems, emotional issues, substance abuse and addiction problems, behavioral and social difficulties.
In order to stop the chain of traumatic events in your child’s life and ensure them a better future, get support from an appropriately trained health professional as soon as possible.
Health Problems:
One of the worst fears that a parent has is that their child will be sexually abused. In order to protect our children, it’s crucial to teach them about the difference between good touch and bad touch as well as about characteristics of potential perpetrators and dangerous situations when the sexual abuse can happen. Not everything is in our control and no matter how hard we try to keep our children safe, bad things can happen.
It’s important to recognize signs of sexual abuse and stop it as soon as possible. Sexual abuse has a tremendous impact on child’s life. In most serious cases, children who are victims of sexual abuse often also exposed to a variety of other stressful and traumatic events. The effects of abuse range from separation anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder. Those effects can eventually lead to a spiral of serious health problems, emotional issues, substance abuse and addiction problems, behavioral and social difficulties.
In order to stop the chain of traumatic events in your child’s life and ensure them a better future, get support from an appropriately trained health professional as soon as possible.
Health Problems:
- Evidence of physical traumas to the genital or anal area
- Exhibiting symptoms of genital infections or sexually transmitted diseases
- Complaining of pain while urinating or having a bowel movement
- Developing frequent unexplained health problems
- Loss of appetite
- Other eating problems including unexplained gagging
- Beginning to wet the bed (after they have passed this developmental stage?)
- Waking up during the night sweating, screaming or shaking with nightmares
- Unexplained periods of panic, which may be flashbacks from the abuse
- Exhibiting sudden reluctance to be alone with a certain person
- Wanting to wear multiple layers of clothes including when going to bed
- Showing unusual fear of a certain place or location
- Decline in academic performance
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities including school and hobbies
- Masturbating excessively
- Engaging in repetitive sexual play with friends, toys or household animals
- Asking an unusual amount of questions about human sexuality
Regressing to behaviors too young for the stage of development they already achieved - Self-mutilations such as cutting themselves, burning themselves with a cigarette
- Unusually aggressive behavior toward family members, friends, animals, and toys
STUDY: CONFLICT BETWEEN DIVORCED PARENTS CAN LEAD TO MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN
January 12, 2021Conflict between divorced or separated parents increases the risk of children developing physical and mental health problems.
A new study from the Arizona State University Research and Education Advancing Children’s Health (REACH) Institute has found that children experience fear of being abandoned when their divorced or separated parents engage in conflict. Worrying about being abandoned predicted future mental health problems in children. The work was published in Child Development on Jan. 12.
January 12, 2021Conflict between divorced or separated parents increases the risk of children developing physical and mental health problems.
A new study from the Arizona State University Research and Education Advancing Children’s Health (REACH) Institute has found that children experience fear of being abandoned when their divorced or separated parents engage in conflict. Worrying about being abandoned predicted future mental health problems in children. The work was published in Child Development on Jan. 12.
