How to Keep Your Child on a Schedule During the Holidays

Holidays have always been, and will always be, an exciting and hectic time. Added into that is the fact that your child, and maybe some other family members, will have a two week vacation at the same time. In order to keep things from being too hectic though, you should still try and keep your child on his or her regular schedule. You can use a bit more leeway when it comes to bedtimes and waking up, just don't stray too far. Once it's time for your child to go back to school it could be difficult if they've got their days and nights mixed up to get back on track.

TIP #1 HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHILD ON SCHEDULE DURING THE HOLIDAYS

One easy way to keep track of everyone's schedules for the Holidays is to make a chart. This will also help you out when it comes time to start the shopping, visits, cooking, and so forth. You can get your child or children to help you draw up what should go on the schedule(s). By including them in the process you will also be giving them a "head's up" to what all will be going on. You can make a different schedule for each family member or do one large one for everyone. It depends on how much you will have to plan out.

TIP #2 HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHILD ON SCHEDULE DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Going along with the schedules that you and your child have drawn up, you can put them on poster boards, or on a dry erase board. There is another, more festive way however. Get some brown paper bags or construction paper, different color ribbon, glue, a marker with a fine tip, and a longer strip of ribbon for hanging. Take a cookie cutter of a gingerbread man and trace the image onto the bags or construction paper. Making sure that you have the head of the gingerbread man on a crease by folding the paper in half. Once traced, cut it out but keep from cutting too much of the crease. That way you can open it up and write your schedule on the inside.

When you cut them out, you'll want to do at least 25 or 26 of them. And when you decorate them be sure to write #1, #2 and so on, on the front of their bellies, making one for each day. Then you can fill out the inside. You can put in for each day what your child would normally be doing along with the fun Holiday happenings too. For example, one day would say: "Get up a 7 am. Eat breakfast. Brush teeth. Go Christmas shopping at the mall. Go to supper at Aunt Sheila and Uncle Steve's house from 6pm till 9pm. Get home. Brush Teeth. Take Bath. Go to bed by 10:30."

When you get them all written out and decorated, give each one a small spot of glue at the bottom and seal them up. Then use a paper punch and punch a hole in the center at the top; being careful not to punch out part of the crease. Thread them onto the long section of ribbon and hang it up. The night before or that morning your child can open them up and you can read them together to see what's on the schedule of things to do for that day.

TIP #3 HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHILD ON SCHEDULE DURING THE HOLIDAYS

If there are going to be a lot of things going on, and you aren't exactly sure of the dates or times of the activities, then you can still keep your child on their regular schedule. Just remember that they get stressed too sometimes by all of the holiday events. You can keep the stress level down for everyone concerned if you stick to a regular bedtime, and wake up schedule throughout the vacation period. Also be sure to let them know as soon as you finalize the dates and times for other activities such as visits and so forth. Remind them about what's coming up each day around the breakfast table or each night at bedtime.