Are your children coming home sooner than you imagined?
It’s that time of Year! Home for the Holidays from College!
College-age and adult children are deciding their plans for the holiday. They seem to fall into 2 categories:
1) Baby Birds who come home to roost for Christmas
2) Baby Birds who fly away for Christmas
Today we are going to talk about, birds (children) who come home for the Christmas Holidays! What can you do to reduce the stress on children coming home for the holidays?
1) Shop, Bake,and Freeze
Grocery shop early. Bake lots of the kids favorite foods early. Freeze it all so you can thaw it during the holidays and enjoy your family and not be a slave to the kitchen!
2) Shop, Bag, and Store
Shop for presents early. Don’t wrap any presents, just put them in bags with tissue paper (a real time saver). You can find cheap bags at the dollar store. Once you have invested in these bags, use them every year for extra savings. Also, if you really want to save time and money when shopping for gifts or Christmas items, check out online shopping opportunities, consider discounts from Christmas Central!
3) Old and New
Keep the old Christmas traditions, your children will just love that. If you always play outdoor football or hockey, don’t stop just because they’ve grown. Make new traditions for the adult in them–maybe a fancy dinner out or a holiday cocktail served with the big Christmas meal.
4) Breathe in, Stress Out
Remember your college age kids and adult children have stresses of their own: finals, new jobs, bills, etc. They are often coming to your homefor the holidays from college to recapture the carefree feelings of youth. Make sure that’s the spirit they find, not some cranky, over 45 year old woman who is ranting on about “all she had to do”. Take a breathe, take the females for a spa treat or do in home manicures. Laugh and enjoy! Order pizza or make a salad together. No one needs all those fancy complicated fattening foods anyway!
Need more Tips? Consider this Book: You’re On Your Own (But I’m Here If You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years by Marjorie Savage
Blog Note: The Chief Blonde was compensated for this Home for the Holidays Children post. The tips are her own!
Hello. I just wanted to comment on #3 keeping traditions from childhood. I certainly do this and not only during the Christmas holiday.
My kids are 29 and 18. I have an old wooden spoon aka ‘the birthday spoon”. It’s primary use was for the traditional birthday spankings. On the handle of the spoon I had wrote, ‘This spanking spoon can only be used on birthdays of those ages 16 and younger.’
My kids grew up with that spoon and could not wait to turn 16. Before the cake, out came the birthday spoon. They would scream, “No! No!, Not the spoon!” Then the free-for-all began. Whoever had the birthday was at the mercy of the entire family. It was a lot of fun and we gathered a lot of berries in the basket with it. (memories)
When my son turned 16, out came the spoon to whack it’s final wishes on his rear-end. He put a heck of a battle. His Dad, sister, and nieces, and cousins were working up a sweat trying to hold him down. We got it done and on the 16th whack I wailed, the old wooden spoon’s handle broke in half. The room fell silent.
A tradition broken (literally)
I apologize for the long post but I have to tell you the ending.
My son’s birthday is in May. My hubby’s follows shortly after in June. When his rolled around, we were ready to cut the cake and my son said, “Wait.” He went in his room and came out holding the spoon with a sheepish grin. His dad said, “That isn’t going to work, I’m over 16.” My son smiled, “Really? Read it.” And held out the battered old spoon.
There in faded black lettering it read, “‘This spanking spoon can only be used on birthdays” and that is where it ended. Oddly enough, the other piece of the handle was never recovered.
The tradition changed. Hubby got his whacks and the old spoon is still putting berries in the basket!
Laurie
So touching! What a great story