It's almost American Thanksgiving and Christmas is right around the corner! Big family events can result in overtired, tantrummy kids—and sleep-deprived, short-on-patience parents. Here’s how to survive without everyone’s sleep going sideways.
, ask her to help out. Maybe she’d love to take the baby on a long stroller nap around the neighbourhood, weather-permitting.can benefit from a block of midday downtime during or before a big event. “Kids under six often get overstimulated, and they don’t know it,” says Jennifer Kolari, a child and family therapist. “There’s a lot going on, and they get anxious,” she says.
Others just say no. There’s zero shame in taking a year or two off from big family parties or deciding. Or you can offer to host this year, so your kids can sleep upstairs in their own rooms while the adults stay up.Lindsay Tucker, a mother of two in Aurora, Ont., came up with another solution. She found that trying to get together with extended family during the dinner hour was just too stressful, so they switched to brunches instead.
For example, if you’re talking to your mother about leaving before dessert, you might say something like, “You’ve put so much into this, and it’s such a beautiful dinner. You have no idea how much we want to be able to stay here for the whole evening—but we need to go,’” says Kolari. If you start with where the other person is coming from, they’re more likely to stay calm and less likely to feel offended. If it doesn’t smooth things over, stand firm.
“I often just say, ‘You know what? We’ve worked really hard on sleep, and it’s something that is really important to us. I know my kids might not be tired now, but trust me, in half an hour, they’re going to be,’” says Reilly. It may help to know that you won’t be having these conversations forever. My sleep-sensitive little guy turned four this year, and now we can let him stay up a bit later on occasion. His one-year-old sister, on the other hand, isn’t so flexible. But this time, I know it’s a phase, and I’m more confident in my choices as a mom.
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