Making the Holidays Easier
With the pandemic hitting every family differently, there’s no denying that this Holiday season will look different for many families. First and foremost, we encourage everyone to be safe when celebrating this year whether you’re traveling or hosting extended family or friends, or just staying home and cooking for your nuclear family! Change can be difficult for children with special needs to acclimate to, especially with something as special as the Holidays. No matter what your Holiday celebration will look like, we’re bringing you a short list of how you can make this Holiday season easier for yourself when you have children with special needs!
1. Routine, routine, routine.
We know routine is important for children with special needs but we also know the Holidays often add stress to our lives, caused by shopping, wrapping, calling, inviting and preparing for whatever celebrations your family will be undertaking. As a parent it can be easy to let the stress and preparations get the best of you, but when you have a special needs family it’s important to remember that this is a time centered around family. Little things like gifts and decorations are important to keep holiday routines from prior years, but it’s even more important to keep up the daily routines you’ve worked so hard to build throughout this whirlwind of a year. Keeping a routine will help your child stay centered, and may even serve as a mental break for yourself.
2.Traditions are Important.
Traditions are a type of routine, although they don't happen every day. Because this year has brought so much change, it will help to know you will decorate your Christmas tree with the same ornaments as last year, or that you’ll bake a gingerbread house. Even something as simple as knowing that this season means drinking hot cocoa and watching movies on the weekends can be reassuring. Traditions are important in bringing your family together and are even important in the development of your children. Holiday traditions and memories hold a special place in our hearts because of the societal and cultural importance we put on this season. COVID won’t ruin that; it will change, but it's up to us how much it changes.
3. Gifts For Everyone?
Gifts are an important part of the Holidays for many families and unfortunately the pandemic has made the idea of buying gifts for an entire nuclear and extended family difficult, if not impossible for some, unless you consider gift alternatives. Gifts don’t have to be things you buy online. If there was ever a time to try your hand at some DIY gifts, it's now! If you’ve got extra time on your hands, try edible gifts, putting together your own gift sets, and if you really can’t fit another gift in your budget stick to small heartfelt gifts! Finally, if you or anyone you know needs a gift, please reach out to us! We would be more than happy to mail one of our safe and clean signature Bear Givers teddy bears.
4. Don’t Forget the Little Things!
As we said earlier, traditions and routines are important to the Holiday season and even more important when you have children with special needs who have already faced more than their fair share of changes. This article has a great list of things to keep in mind when preparing for the Holidays with children with special needs.
5. Stay Safe.
We all know the dangers of traveling and gathering in large groups so I won’t repeat it here, and you will weigh the risks yourself, but it’s important to remember that we are getting closer to an end. While we can’t see the finish line quite yet, it’s just as important now as it was months ago to be vigilant and wear your masks. Don’t lighten up for the Holidays but fight to protect your family even more.
We hope everyone has a safe and ‘berry bear-tastic’ Holiday season!