Fun Tips YOU Can Do With Your Children This Month
This month can be stressful, busy, confusing, and costly for parents and even more so for parents who are divorcing or divorced and co-parenting! There are last minute changes, multiple transitions, blended family dynamics, and in general, higher levels of emotions over the holidays.
Here are 10 Things YOU Can Do With Your Children that WILL NOT break your pocketbook and WILL create lasting memories!
1. Research all of the holidays in December with your children and find ‘1 Thing You Will Do To Learn’ about each of the holidays (maybe even consider bringing that into your home as a new tradition like making a dish with your children for every holiday in the month of December).
2. Find a community organization that has activities during the month of December and pick an activity to do together with your children (examples might be: volunteering to help bring others food through a local Meals on Wheels group, wrapping presents with a local Boys & Girls club or Rotary Club, participating in a local religious organization’s activities, decorating at a local community center).
3. Look into a festive movie, play, musical event, or even a Polar Express experience and invite friends to go with you and your children.
4. Have a baking or cooking event at your home with other families / friends – Not so you cook for them but so everyone comes and cooks/bakes together (Best to have back-up snacks and dinner just in case😊. Click here to get my favorite recipe for cookies!).
5. Think about starting a new tradition of making gifts for each other all together (I used to go to ‘Color Me Mine’ with my boys)…. They are now adults but they remember this always😉.
6. Decorate your home together. You would be surprised how creative your children can get and the smiles that come by doing this (of course some things need to be done by adults).
7. Slow down and just hang out more…allow more free time for your children to just be…maybe even ask them to find fun things on their phones to show everyone else!
8. Drive around in your neighborhood or community looking at all of the decorations and talking about them with your children. Play a game of what is your favorite and why?
9. Play some board games or charades at night and have fun festive music playing in the background.
10. Pick a couple of family friends with your children and make something special to take over to their home as a gift…I bet you anything you’ll get invited in and have a wonderful time for a couple of hours
Doing things together with your children, being present with them, is the secret to building the bonds that last for a lifetime. Things, toys, clothes, whatever else, wear out after our children grow and change…It’s the memories we create today that stay in their minds forever!
Happy Holiday Season ~ Janet
As a divorce, parenting, co-parenting, and life transition coach, I help divorcing or divorced parents prevent ‘divorce trauma’ for their children, strengthen their parent / child bond, and have the confidence that their children will grow into Happy Healthy Thriving Adults (no matter what’s going on with the other parent)!
If you or anyone you know is struggling with their bond with their children, their co-parenting relationship, or their own emotions, have them reach out for a complimentary strategy session with me today!