ADHD During The Holidays
The holidays bring about a lot of challenges for parents of kids with ADHD.
This week on Instagram, I teamed up with The Childhood Collective to bring you some tips for managing challenging behaviors during the holidays. The Childhood Collective are two child psychologists (Lori Long, Ph.D. and Mallory Yee, Ph.D.) and a speech language pathologist (Katie Severson, M.S., CCC-SLP). Most importantly, they are three moms who are dedicated to supporting parents of children with ADHD. With over 40 years of combined professional experience, they empower parents by teaching science-backed strategies to raise happy and confident children!
As a licensed psychologist in San Diego, California, I’ve worked with plenty of families who feel stressed about the upcoming holiday season. From the typical stress that holidays can bring with seeing family members, financial stress, and managing plans, having kids with ADHD can make the holidays even more stressful at times.
Some of the most common challenges parents of kids with ADHD include getting out of a routine, meltdowns from too many activities, and having to keep kids entertained throughout the day. It’s a tough time, and it can feel like it will never end in the moment…because of this, this blog post is going to provide you with some steps for how you can make it through the holiday season.
Here are some tips on making it through the holiday season:
Remember that this is a tough time of year for kids and parents to manage, and focus on reducing your expectation for what they may be able to handle in a day. It’s great to have some activities planned, but that can also be overwhelming for kids with ADHD. Allow your schedule to be flexible and adapt if needed.
Try to stick to some consistency if possible. This doesn’t mean you need to keep the same routine each day. Instead, try to stick to one piece of the routine. For example, can you keep the same bedtime or wake up time throughout the holidays? This might be hard to do…if so, try to stick to the same breakfast time if possible.
Praise behaviors that are really hard during this time of the year such as being polite, being calm, and using manners. Any time that you see these behaviors, even if other behaviors are not as up to par as you wish they were, try to praise them for what they are doing well.
Importantly, make sure to offer yourself some self-compassion during this time as well. This is a really difficult time to be both a parent and a parent of a child with ADHD. To offer yourself some compassion, acknowledge your feelings and take a balanced approach to your thoughts in the moment by recognizing that others are going through this at the same time.
