How to Survive the Holidays - CareforKids.com.au®

How to Survive the Holidays
Following are two fantastic and very funny articles for both mums and dads on the approaching festive season and summer holidays… enjoy!

The first is a great article for Dads who often get left out (or wish they did) over Christmas. It's followed by a fantastic article for mums on how to survive the rest of the summer holidays with the children. It was written specifically for mums working from home, but is equally appropriate for those on leave from work or just attempting to go about their business as stay at home mums with the added bonus of school aged children in the house between 9am and 3pm every day.

First for the dads…

Dad rules: surviving Christmas
by Andrew Clover from the UK's Times online.

Listen up. You've only a few days to prepare before you travel to enemy territory for Christmas.

Here's a checklist for survival:

The curse of Christmas is that there are always people more generous than you. And there's always one random — e.g. neighbour, friend of Mum's — who'll shame you with chocolates. Be prepared: hoard bottles of something you can claim to be your favourite wine. Make cards with your children. My daughter Cassady, 5, did one that depicted the Christmas fairy. ("She does not like sitting on Christmas trees because she gets needles in her pants.") I'll be giving those to everyone.
Obviously, you want to arrive early so as to bag rooms before your sister arrives, but don't drive children in the daytime, or you'll arrive stressed and covered in crumbs. Tell your sister you're arriving on the 24th. Drive up on the night of the 23rd.
Bring earplugs, holly and manners. A good idea is to wash up immediately after arriving. Everyone will say: "Oh, no, you really shouldn't." For the rest of the visit, heed their advice. A good ruse is to be the one who befriends the aged relative. When in doubt, sit on the sofa and nod.
Beware — there may be enemy children about, and you must show you're a good sport by engaging with them. The trick is to delay this as long as possible, or they will seek you out as their special friend. Wait till the last day, then make an impression by flying them round the living room. Make sure you don't trip, though, or you'll crash-land them onto Granny.
Just accept it: all mums are insane throughout Christmas. There's little you can do. Peel potatoes. Keep smiling. Ply with drink.
Steel yourself for siblings. You've not talked in a year; suddenly, you're sharing a lilo on the floor.
Keep your discipline. Last year, we visited the in-laws, who are restrained, ascetic people, who drink moderately and snack on brown organic apricots. My head felt like one of those apricots, after I'd stayed up till 3am enjoying a one-man party of booze, fags and Bourne films. I arrived in the kitchen at 8am. Sister was making a sauce. Mum was chopping leeks while listening to a report on the Indonesian economy. There was nowhere to hide.
Go to bed early and don't make festive innuendos such as "I've got to stuff the turkey", or "I'd better get to bed. Later, I'm coming down the chimney".
You'll be under surveillance from mums determined that everyone should have fun. At all times wear a smile, a festive hat and the ugliest and most garish present you've been given.
Remember to enjoy yourself. If you don't, someone will attack. 'Tis the season to be jolly. And if you can't be jolly, get drunk.

[From Dad rules: surviving Christmas - Times Online ]

How to Survive the Summer Holidays as a Work from Home Mum

By Jan Ferrante who write the blog, Queen of KAOS

We found this article on the Queen of Kaos blog – particularly apt for a great number of the mums who read this newsletter every month! We hope it gives you some comfort, inspiration, relief or whatever it is you need at any particular moment of the summer holidays!

Well, it's that time again.

The time we look forward to all year long. And the time we… umm… I forget what I was going to say. I'm 3 days in with one still in school and I'm already wondering where my brain might be hiding – could be in the closet with the rest of me!

Somehow I had managed to stuff to the far corners of my mind that summer holidays have been fast approaching.

Now I'm starting to remember…

So what are a few tips that can help us to stay productive and enjoy the summer with our kids?

Chill – I know it's summer, but you gotta chill, even if its 100+ outside. Especially for the first week or so while you all adjust.

The kids are excited… and you are debilitated until you get your summer legs (which involves taking some time outside in your short shorts). Give yourself and your family a bit of constructive down time. Clear your schedule to the best of your ability and rest up. You're going to need it.

Make A Plan – From day one, create some structure and rules. Don't let even a few days go by without it, well maybe one but be sure to announce in your loudest serious voice that this is the first and last day of mischief and mayhem.

Plan what chores the kids will be doing for the summer and when they will be doing them.

Plan to plan meals. Get them to make a list of foods and meals that they like and include some that they can make. Get them to make at least one meal per week… maybe more… depending on how hungry they plan to be. Wink

Set Boundaries – Decide when you will work and put a structure in place that will make it work for you (a deadbolt on the door and a few chairs and maybe your desk against it for good measure can work). If that seems too extreme, sit down with the kids and brainstorm ideas and activities that will keep them busy and safe while you're working – age appropriate of course. Boarding up their bedroom doors from the outside probably doesn't count as an activity.

Adjust Your Sleeping Patterns – Basically, this is a polite way of saying that you can plan to skip sleeping until February. To get any focused work done, you will have to rise early and stay up late, I'm sure that you didn't want to waste any of the summer sleeping anyway. HA!

Just kidding but you probably will want to make some adjustments if possible so that you can get up a bit earlier than the kids do if you are a morning person, or stay up a bit later if you are a night owl. This isn't fail proof of course, depending on the ages of your child. I remember when my youngest was about 4 or 5, it didn't matter if I got up at 3am, she knew… somehow she knew and BAM… she would appear. Try not to let it get to you. Remember that someday you will be sitting up at 3am wishing that she was standing in the room. You can get some work done then.

Seriously, you will find the hours when the kids are asleep, no matter what their age to be golden, but you also need to be well rested. It's hard to type while holding your eyelids open with both hands – or even one, take it from me.

Keep Them Busy – Taking time to drive them to activities will cut into your day, but it will ultimately take less time than having a bored child wandering around the house and it may even be a nice break for you too. Take full advantage of any child trading you may be able to do (be sure to check that you get the right one back… that would be the quiet one) or any childcare opportunities such as parents, in-laws or mothers helpers who may be frequenting the neighbourhood.

Plan outings, both for the kids individually and as a family. Resist the urge to say no on the grounds that you need a few more hours with your head stuck at the computer. It will still be there when you get back (at which time you can re-attach it to your shoulders).

Put Them To Work – Depending on their ages, you can hire your kids to give your business a boost this summer. You can hire them in your business and get a tax write off as well. Or hire them around the house to take a load off and free you up for a few extra hours. Even small kids may be able to help you with something and they will be more likely to respect your business if they are involved. I find the biggest bonus being that now they have their own money; it makes mine stretch much further. That's a benefit you don't get by hiring out.

Prepare Snacks Ahead – Put some healthy snacks in snack size containers in the fridge so that they can grab and stuff or have cut up veggies, boiled eggs etc prepared. 90% of all interruptions have been proven to be food-related. Make it easy on all of you.

Use A Timer – It's easy to get involved and not notice the time. Avoid mutiny on deck… time yourself so that you can keep your promises… and keep them.

Be Super Focused – Now is a good time to get in the habit of creating laser focus in your work day tasks. Outline a plan detailing exactly what you want to focus on over the summer. Do only what is necessary and ultimately this will increase your bottom line. Cut out the chit chat and time wasters and spend the time with your kids. Remember, even though M comes at the end of WAHM, you are a mom first. Some days the summer holidays may seem to go on forever, but they will be over before you know it. And then you can PAR-TAY!

Have fun! – Loosen up a little and enjoy your kids, however much of a PITA they may seem at the most inopportune times. There is nothing worse than a sad old woman missing her kids and wishing that she could have just one more day of total knock down, blow out, little kid KAOS with the herd. Except for a sad old woman who is alone and wishing she had spent more time in total knock down, blow out, little kid KAOS with the herd when she had the chance. Better to know that you are going to miss these days with the smug satisfaction that you have wrung every possible minute out of their childhood and had fun doing it, dammit.

All in all, if you can remember the 3 P's – Priorities, Planning and Pizza, you're in for a great summer!

Jan Ferrante is the Queen of KAOS, a work at home mom who will be found this summer, working in peace under her desk and dreaming up the next solution for work at home KAOS.