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Handle The Stress Of Holiday Planning During a Pandemic With These Tips

It seems hard to believe, but we are about to enter the holiday season in the middle of a global pandemic! As if this time of year wasn’t already stressful enough, you have to try to plan your season around the risk of illness. How can you manage the stress, and how can you keep your relationship strong through the challenges? Highlands Ranch couples therapists share top tips!

Tip #1: Embrace the Difference. The 2020 holiday season will not look like seasons of the past—it just can’t. Instead of feeling angry or sad about the changes, try to embrace the differences. Does your family go on vacation for the holidays every year? Maybe this will be the year to start a new tradition. Do you always dread having the family stay at your house for days? That Zoom dinner might sound a lot better! Certainly, there are things that will be missed, but new opportunities are always available. If the changes are affecting your relationship, this is a great time to seek counseling and couples therapy. Couples psychologists in Littleton are available in-person and by telemedicine to help you have a stronger relationship and a better holiday season.

Tip #2: Feel the Grief. Just because you appreciate the new opportunities doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t grieve the loss of your normal experience. During the Thanksgiving holiday, you want to make sure to give thanks, but don’t feel locked into good feelings. From lives to jobs to security, many people have lost things during this pandemic, and it is okay to grieve. Talk with your partner about how the changes have affected your relationship, and give yourself the time you need as a couple and as an individual to process and come to terms with this grief.

Tip #3: Enjoy Home. For most people, this year’s holiday season will be spent at home, with members of the same household, like you’ve probably been doing for months. Make sure your home is as enjoyable as possible by clearing up clutter, adding some festive decorations, and maybe even splurging on some new entertainment if it is in the budget. Practice gratitude and consider all the good things you have in your life—even if it is far different than before.

Tip #4: Cut some Slack. 2020 has been a great year to practice self-care and compassion—for yourself! Keep this vibe up through the holiday season and remember to take time to relax. If you hate cooking, order catering, or let the kids try their hand at making dinner (with supervision for younger ones). Maybe your house isn’t as full of relatives as you would like, maybe the meal isn’t a 5-star success, maybe you end up feeling like it is “just another day.” In any case, use positive self-talk to remind yourself that you are doing the best you can. Support your partner by giving these same reminders, and try to let the little things go—for you, and for others.

The holiday season is always stressful, and never more so than during a pandemic! It is normal to be very “in your feelings” during these times. If you find yourself feeling more angry than usual, wishing your partner would just go live in someone else’s quarantine bubble, or if you just can’t communicate, consider visiting an expert couples therapist in Littleton to help work through these issues. Dr. Steve, psychologist in Littleton, has helped many couples to work through challenges and come out stronger in the future. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help when you need it!

 

 

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These Fun Games Help Your Child Build Focus Skills

One of the biggest challenges that today’s children—and adults—face is staying focused. From helping children with ADHD pay attention in class, to building the deep attention skills needed to do critical analysis and complex work, concentration and focus skills are so important. In fact, many parents in Highlands Ranch seek ADHD counseling because their son or daughter “just can pay attention.” In a world where screens, advertisements, and a hundred other things are vying for their attention, how can you help your child focus? These fun games are a great start!

I Spy

Remember the classic road-trip game? “I Spy” can be a fun way to build focus skills while also encouraging your child to pay attention to the world around them. Even better, it helps to promote some social skills, such as following gaze (that trick you used where you would watch the other person’s eyes to see what they were “spying”), listening carefully, and giving and receiving feedback. For younger kids, start with easy items—the clothing they are wearing, big pieces of furniture, and so on. For younger kids, this game can be even more fun when you focus on tiny details—the button on their sleeve, the decorative ornament hanging in the doorway, little details.

Find It or Hidden Object Games

Whether you clip a hidden object scene from the weekly newspaper or hook your kiddo up with a cool app, games that ask kids to find hidden objects, spot differences between two pictures, or anything else that promotes carefully attention can be a fun way to boost these skills. Child psychologists in Littleton sometimes give these sorts of fun, skill-boosting activities as homework, because it helps build on the very skills we want to help kids learn—close attention, focus, and commitment.

Card Games

No matter what card games your family loves, it can be a great way to teach kids to focus. You can buy a set of pre-made game cards, or explore classics like Go Fish, Crazy 8s, or War with any old deck of cards you have lying around. The important part is that the child needs to pay attention to when it is their turn and what cards are being played. For older kids who don’t mind play “consequences,” a fun rule is to skip anyone who isn’t paying attention on their turn (make sure to let yourself “unfocus” and miss a few turns yourself to make it fair). For younger kids, you can focus more on the strategy of the game—a little card counting won’t get them kicked out of the family card game, and will make everything more interesting.

Does your child have difficulty focusing and paying attention? If so, there are a number of ways to help her get back on track so she can enjoy her schooling and recreation time. While some kids may have an underlying condition that makes it hard to focus, like ADHD or anxiety, many kids are simply caught up in our everyday world of stimulation and distraction. Help them flex their focus-muscles with some fun and games! If your child seems to have an extraordinary challenge staying focused, and it is interfering with school or daily living, call a child behavior psychologist in Littleton for more help.