Time to start thinking about the holidays! Do you feel tired and overwhelmed at just the thought of the holiday season? Today, I have some great tips to help you simplify your holidays for more connection with your children and family.
Plus I have an offer for a way that you can get more support from me if you’re interested. 😉
The holiday season can be a beautiful time of joy and celebration. But for many of us, it can also be a stressful time when we feel rushed, over scheduled, inundated with more stuff and too many sweets.
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All of this stress can cause what Kim John Payne, the author of Simplicity Parenting, calls a Soul Fever – when a child (or parent!) is overwhelmed and disoriented, unable to be at his or her best.
So, how do we prevent or reduce a Holiday Soul Fever?
The four pillars of simplicity – a concept that comes out of the Simplicity Parenting book and movement – can be a wonderful guide during the holidays. To help us craft a more meaningful, intentional, and peaceful holiday season. And help us say “no thank you” to the extra decorations, slices of pie, gifts, or late-night events.
Want more guidance on simplifying your holidays? When you join the Inspired at Home mentorship community, you can join the journey to Create Your Simplicity Holidays Plan. So that you can create a holiday season that comes into closer alignment with your hopes and dreams.
4 Ways to Simplify Your Holidays
The four pillars of simplicity include the environment, rhythm, schedules, and filtering out the adult world. Here are some very simple tips in each realm that will help you keep your eye on what’s most important this holiday season. Many thanks to fellow Simplicity Parenting Coach, Carrie Thomas Scott, for sparking these ideas.
Within our Environment, we can limit decorations to those that hold special sentiments and add beauty to our surroundings. We can make an extra effort to clear clutter and make space for a simple home setting.
The holidays also offer an opportunity for us to simplify gifts. You might simplify gift-giving by requesting gifts of music or art lessons or other experience gifts, giving grandparents lists of suggestions, by making contributions to an organization close to your heart, or by creating new traditions that focus on giving back to community, caring for animals and nature, or working with others.
Rhythm can help us maintain a sense of balance and is even more important when life gets hectic. During the holidays, pay special attention to continuing to wake or sleep at about the same time, remembering to say or sing mealtime blessings, and keeping those chore rhythms. Let’s hold the space for our family to stay close.
Down time is also a huge help during the rush of the holidays. Knowing when we are over scheduled and limiting our engagements can reduce a Holiday Soul Fever. We can bookend busy times with connection to nature and with unstructured time at home. Engaging children in holiday baking or homemade gift-making can be a sweet way to simplify Schedules, reconnect as a family, and cultivate creativity.
Filtering out the Adult World is an additional way to build resilience and reduce Holiday Soul Fever. Be mindful of adult conversations around the holiday table and the talk among the children and cousins. So that you can create a buffer for your children if needed.
Reducing Holiday Soul Fever is possible!
Embrace the extraordinary power of less. Simplify where you can. Reduce stress so that you and your family can truly enjoy the magic of the season.
Join me for Create Your Simplicity Holidays Plan. Starting November 1st, you’ll receive an email every Friday with specific steps to take to think about your family’s values and how to simplify your holidays. Start with your values, imagine how you want your celebrations to be, and create your plan. All with my help.
How do you join in this simplicity journey?
Join the Inspired at Home community! For a small investment of just $37 a month, you can Create Your Simplicity Holidays Plan. Plus get 30+ other masterclasses! So you can turn overload into balance and overwhelm into enjoyment.
Love this! My holiday soul fever just kicked in, so thank you, thank you!
Happens to all of us, Lynnsey! What we really want is connection, but we often end up with holiday soul fever. Ugh. But we can set things up now for more ease during the holiday season. Right!?!