by Justine Deputy, RN, MSN
With the holiday season coming up there is so much going on that we are invited to, that we want to take our little ones to, or maybe something that we just want to do. It can be a crazy time of year especially if we don’t think about what we want our priorities to be at a time. Some days it may be worth it to go, go, go. Other times it may make more sense for us to skip one of the events we would go to if we didn’t have anything else going on because we can’t do everything. It can be hard to decide which events we want to go to and which events we have to skip.
Remember
You have a baby, you have a pass. This isn’t to say we should skip everything or not do anything, it’s just to say that if it’s too much don’t feel guilty.
I think the most important thing to remember is that we don’t have to do everything. Yes, maybe you used to bring the stuffing to Thanksgiving every year. But maybe that’s too much this year, that’s okay. Check to see if someone else can make it or see if you can purchase it premade. Then maybe next year or the following year it won’t feel like too much and you’ll make it again.
You also don’t have to make every event. Bouncing from house to house can be difficult. Navigating travel during your few days off might not be in the cards this year. Additionally, if you attend events, remember you don’t have to stay at every event from the start to the finish. It’s okay to pop in for a short visit. Everyone will be so excited to see you and your family even though you didn’t get there on time.
It can be impossible to do everything. When we have kids, a lot goes into their daily schedule. We don’t have as much time as we used to have. Your little ones schedule may affect things too. Some kids do better going off their schedule than others. If your kid is one of them then maybe you might have a little bit more flexibility. If a nap in the car will be enough, and that allows you to attend something you don’t want to miss, take advantage of that. It seems too stressful than skip it. Either decision is okay. If you’re worried about letting others down, just try to be honest with them and let them know where you are coming from.
Know Your Priorities
- Baby: Ask yourself a few questions about how this will affect the baby. Some babies do wonderful taking a few short naps or skipping a nap instead of their regular two naps. Other babies are a mess if they do this. You know your baby. Try to figure out what’s going work best for your family. Sometimes baby can handle one crazy day, but not two in a row. Every baby is different.
- Closest Family and Friends: There are certain people that you want to make sure that you see and spend time with during the holiday season, maybe this is grandparents or siblings or maybe someone else. These are the people that you may work little harder to see. But these are also the people that you can hopefully talk most with about what might work best. So if the dinner is not at a good time, see there’s a potential to change it. Maybe it would be easier to have people over your house, or maybe you prefer to stop by someone else’s house so you can leave when you are ready. Either is a good plan!
Traditions
Be open to variations of past traditions. You will also be making new traditions now that you have a little one. This can be hard for some, but also fun and exciting! Just as your life season has changed now that you have a baby, sometimes traditions will change a little bit too.
Get Things on the Calendar
When you look at everything on the calendar you can see when too much is too much. When you receive an imitation for an event, go to put it on the calendar. Then, you can see if you have one or two other things that day making it much easier to decide ahead of time what makes sense for your family.
Enjoy It!
We want to enjoy the holidays. We want our little ones to enjoy the holidays. So take a moment to think about how you can best enjoy them without getting too stressed or it becoming too much, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!