The Christmas season usually resonates with happy and festive moments, and family gathering. However, because of the current situation, many families won’t be able to spend those happy moments altogether. How can we deal with these uncertain times and still enjoy this period of the year when we are far away from our loved ones? At the same time, how can we help our children have a positive perspective about it?
The emotions that we, including children, may be going through in this particular period can vary from one person to the other. It is not only due to the fact that we are away from our family, but also the fact that the overall situation doesn’t show many signs of improvement. The emerging feelings in this context can be stress, sadness, frustration, anxiety, loneliness and anger to name a few. Some people may also experience nightmares or sleeping disorders.
As there is not much we can do about the situation itself, let’s find solutions to improve the way we feel about it. For adults, one simple yet powerful suggestion that comes to mind and proves to be very helpful, is to acknowledge the emotions we are going through. We have the right to feel the way we feel and express it. As for the children who don’t usually know how to express their emotions, we may notice, sometimes, from their behaviour that there is something wrong. When our children behave in an unusual way, as parents, we can share our feelings about the situation and leave them some space to do so as well, without trying to heal their feelings too quickly. Once we express our emotions, we usually feel lighter, even though the situation is still the same.
You can also take a moment to brainstorm as a family on all the things you could organise for this period to be as special, festive and fun as possible. This could be games, activities, decorations, outings, music you’d like to listen to together, shows you could attend and let all the crazy ideas be expressed, and select some of them. The aim is to break the routine, feel the holiday spirit and maybe even create new traditions.
Last but not least, we want to keep the connection with the loved ones who are away from us. Apart from sending presents, we can decide to celebrate Christmas together, using a video tool while opening our presents simultaneously and maybe have the same menu for Christmas Eve.
If the stress and the feeling of loneliness remain, seeking for help can be a good idea. Hypnotherapy is a powerful tool that can help release negative emotions at a deeper level and find the energy to enjoy the moment.
This piece was written by Sybille de Klebnikoff, Hypnotherapist and Life Coach at Central & Stanley Wellness.
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