Plan your Winter Break with Kids ❄️

Vacations are best described as a mixed blessing. Family time without the daily routine can feel light and carefree, but managing kids, especially young ones, while balancing work, Christmas prep and the usual household chores needs a whole new level of juggling.

Child care, especially of little ones, is a full time job in itself. Even if you’re not working through the break, you might have Christmas prep, vacation planning in case you’re traveling or if family or friends are visiting, and the routine labor of keeping the house running.

At MAMMA-MIYA, we understand moms’ unique reality. Motherhood takes so much from us but also gives. It makes us dig deep for patience, energy and love. It makes us a stronger, fuller version of ourselves we’d never have imagined. At the same time, it’s a switch that is never ‘off’, so we’re constantly juggling the multiple hats we wear and trying to find a balance that includes meeting our own needs, too.

The winter break is one time when the struggle for balance can feel greater than usual. If you’re wondering how you’re going to get everything done with kids at home, this resource has some great suggestions.

If you have young kids and you live in a place with cold weather, here are some ideas.

For now, here are a few things you can do:

 

1. Create custom routines

Make a flexible routine for the break.

Young kids love routines, and this will help them know what to expect from the day. You can note down what you want to do around playtime or TV time. Maybe get some work done, finish off an errand, or simply enjoy some much-needed downtime.

 

2. Plug self care into your days

MAMMA-MIYA cares about you as much as your productivity. In addition to work, schedule in me-time and self care activities too.

Check the Explore section for other Self-Care ideas. If any of them call out to you, click on it and add it to My Day. If you want to schedule it later, clicking on ‘Save for Later’ will add it to your Brain Dump.

Is there a self-care idea you’d like to develop into a habit? You can add it to your Routines, and it will give you something to look forward to, after the break.

We recommend deep breathing. Scheduling 5 minutes a day to take deep inhales and exhales, while focussing on your breath, is a powerful way to reduce stress immediately. It also has long term benefits, from reducing anxiety and relieving pain to improving immunity and increasing energy.

Or you can write in the Gratitude Journal. Reminding yourself of all that makes your life joyful will put the other things in perspective and give you strength to get through them. You could add an entry a day for each day of the winter break, with a photo, a memory or one line of thought. The entries will become wonderful memories to go through later. 

 

3. Ask your village to help 

If family or a friend can help even for a day, you can get a breather, catch up on pending work, chores, or just disconnect and unwind. Or consider hiring child care for a day.

Getting help, even for a day, will ease your load and give you the boost you need to get through the rest of the break.