Do you have a parenting hurdle you’re working through? If so, “The Parenting Post” is for you! One of our writers, Albiona, has been answering all of YOUR parenting questions over on IG. We’ve turned her series into blog posts on our website as well. We just can’t get enough of her helpful advice, and we thought you’d appreciate it, too!
Her videos cover a wide variety of parenting questions–honestly, anything and everything! If it’s something you’re wondering, there’s a good chance that another parent in our community is also struggling with it. And Albiona is here to help!
This week, she’s sharing about navigating holiday transitions with your little ones in order to have less meltdowns and more ease. The holidays can be filled with jumping from house to house–so it’s super important to have a plan ahead of time and get everyone on board.
How do you manage transitioning from house to house during holiday season visits?
First off, navigating holiday transitions is such a common situation. The important thing here is to really think about your own situation and what works and what doesn’t. But hopefully, these tips will be super helpful for you this holiday season! You don’t have to take every tip from this post and think it’s the only right way to do it. Parenting is all about being flexible!
To start, work out a game plan with your partner.
Start with you and your partner. Work out a game plan that you both agree to. More often than not, one partner wants to do it one way, and the other wants to do it another way. Then, you begrudgingly commit to one type of a plan. One the day of, when things fall apart, you kind of go after each other. This can be a little problematic. You need to be on the same page here–otherwise, it can become a really stressful situation.
Use bridge incentives!
When navigating holiday transitions, frame it for your kids ahead of time so they know exactly what to expect, and what the day will look like. If you have a child who has a harder time transitioning from one place to another, you can build in a bridge incentive. Find something exciting they can look forward to, and use it as an incentive for a positive transition.
For instance, if you know they’ll have a hard time leaving grandma’s house to go to the next house, you could have a little surprise in the car waiting for them. You can build it up in a way so that your child is really looking forward to what’s next. They’ll be excited about getting in the car and heading to the next house, and hopefully the transition will be a smooth one!
You don’t have to do this every single time your child transitions between houses. But, when it’s the holiday season, and excitement is high, it’s okay to use an incentive to help the day run as smoothly as possible. It really helps them to become excited about getting in the car and going to the next location.
Another tip for navigating holiday transitions is to try to end up at their more favored place (maybe it’s running around their aunt’s house with their cousins!), so it’s even more exciting to look forward to going. This is not the time to take things personally with one side of the family vs. the other. It really just comes down to where the kids have more fun, and where they’ll be more excited about going to. Often, it’s wherever their cousins or kids their age are. So, try to end there (if you can!). And if you can’t? That’s okay too.
So, make a plan with your partner and stick to it. Let your kids know your plan, and let them know about any bridge incentives that will be included. This will get them super excited and on board, and you’ll be ready to tackle the holiday season–and alllllll of the visits that come with it. Happy holidays!
Do you have more parenting questions for Albiona? Leave them below so she can possibly answer them for you. To learn more, you can follow Albiona on Instagram. Or, subscribe to her weekly newsletter and download her free guide for teaching parents how to get their kids to listen.
