Tips for Managing School Holiday Stress

School holidays can be a stressful time for parents; between organising vacation care, or holiday activities, worrying about stretching finances to cover the extra costs incurred over the holiday break and listening to kids whining about how bored they are; the school holidays can become a time parents dread. This can be remedied. A few little tricks can see you actually looking forward to the holiday break.

Plan Ahead

Making plans before the holidays begin can help relieve some of the pressure once they begin. Knowing what you want to do ahead of time can stifle those “I’m bored,” whiny moments and your resulting frustration. Being organised can also help in the bid to organise vacation care or trips away. There’s nothing worse than thinking about going away for the holidays and then not being able to secure flights or accommodation because planning was left to the last minute. Similarly, nothing will stress a working parent more than being told the vacation care centre is full and you know have to try and juggle work arrangements or find other care for your kids. Planning ahead and knowing everything is booked and confirmed will prevent last minute disasters. Planning ahead can also help you work out a budget for the holiday period. Not having to worry about where the money is coming from will certainly relieve some pressure.

Talk to the Kids

After you sit down and work out what it is you want to do over the holidays, sit down and have a chat with the kids. Let them know what you have planned and ask them what they think about it. This will make the kids feel like their opinion is valued and they are not just being told what they have to do, they are actually having a say in it. And it will also prevent any instances of “I don’t want to do that,” as you’re walking out the door. The kids know what’s on the agenda so they can’t act up at the last second and use the excuse that you didn’t tell them what was going on. And I know some have the opinion that they are the parent and their child will do as he/she is told, but just having a little chat ahead of time can really save you, and them, a lot of unnecessary stress.

Take Care of Yourself

An important thing to remember during the holidays is to either start, or keep on, looking after yourself. We’ve all been told, and we all know, that if you’re not feeling your best, you’ll have nothing left to give. This is not a farce. The more stressed you become, the less patience you’ll have with the kids. The less patience you have, the more the kids normal everyday antics will get on your nerves and the more stressed you will become. And now you are on a never ending, stress merry-go-round. When you feel that you are worn out, impatient or stressed, take some time out for yourself to unwind and recharge the batteries and you’ll be back to your “giving all of your time/energy with a smile on your face,” self in no time at all!