It’s happening again. We’ve all seen it before: A mother rushing along the sidewalk or through the mall, pushing a stroller and holding the hand of a 3-year-old who is pasted along her thigh, half-trotting in an effort to keep up.
The holidays are coming. The media is ratcheting up the excitement and the stores are inviting us in with glorious decorations, repetitive holiday music and store shelves overburdened with things to buy.
We are beginning to feel a little overwhelmed, wondering how the dictionary could ever have defined “holiday” as “That period of time when one does not work and does things for pleasure instead.”
In the rush of it all, what can we do to keep the children – particularly the preschoolers – in mind over the next few weeks?
“Oh for goodness’ sake,” you might object. “We constantly keep them in mind. We rush about buying them toys so they will have plenty of gifts. We make sure they have special clothes to wear and we hurry to get their pictures taken with Santa. We push our time limits to take them to see the big-headed characters in the downtown shopping center. What more do you want us to do?”
Perhaps we should all take a minute to try to see things from young children’s perspective, since we insist “these holidays are for children.” Doing so might result in fewer frantic moments and less exhaustion for everyone.
Read the whole article for a young child’s refreshing perspective, and thoughts to make the holidays easier to manage.
The Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development helps children understand and manage their feelings for success in school and life; and works with parents and child-facing professionals to do the same. Services include a preschool and state-chartered kindergarten, a classroom for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, mental health clinic for children and adolescents, and outreach/training for early childhood educators and other professionals.
