MPF 313: Surviving the Holidays with Grace

Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

Kids will not always remember what you say, they will remember how they felt.

Summary

We have talked about the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s being the “Momolympics”, a time when there are tons of things to buy, make, prepare, plan, and basically the happiness of your children all depends on you (at least we feel that way!) How can parents embrace the holidays with children with grace and excitement? How can we keep in mind what is truly important for our family? In this episode we give some principles, but also LOTS of practical advice as we look back on all the different holidays we have had with our large family. Things look different now for us, but we can see in hindsight what worked well for us, and what was unnecessarily stressful! This is an amazing time of year and when you have kids the happy times are even more joy-filled, but the tough times can be really exhausting. We are here for you as you work to be intentional, even if you are a messy family!

Key Takeaways

• The more you plan in advance the less rushed you are going to be. This will help you simplify so you can focus on what really matters.

• Keep in mind the order of your family culture! Spiritual life of the home, marriage, relationships, developing gifts and then the operations of the family.

• Get the kids involved! When they own traditions, it strengthens your family culture when they take on responsibilities for the holidays.

Couple Discussion Questions

• What are the traditions that we want to double down on and make sure they happen this year?

• How are we going to reduce stress and delegate work to the kids? What is our plan to get them involved?

Resources

• Throwback Friday: Toys! by Regina Schmiedicke

• MFP267: Toys and the Imagination

• MFP036 Holidays with In laws and Out laws

• Donate to the Messy Family Project