How To Set Boundaries This Holiday Season

As with most things in 2020, we are heading into a uniquely challenging holiday season.  Many of the traditional ways we celebrate may be limited by different stressors related to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, gift buying and exchanging is made complicated by financial strain and limited access to stores. Religious celebrations may be canceled or held remotely. And gathering with friends and families for various holiday parties is made especially challenging with social distancing, mask guidelines and stay-at-home recommendations or mandates.

Even outside of a pandemic, setting boundaries around the holidays is a good idea. This year, with so many additional stressors added to our plates, we think it is especially important to learn some simple tools related to setting and keeping boundaries.

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Sibling fighting:
How to help your children get along

Arguments and disagreements among siblings are a normal experience that occasionally happen in all homes. But what if the fighting becomes an every day occurrence? Children experience stress and frustration within sibling relationships and often do not have the necessary skills to deal with the situation. Here are a few things you can do as a parent to help them.

Identify triggers

Help your kids identify the situations that they find the most frustrating. Start by observing and then pointing out patterns in their behaviors and responses. Teach them that walking away from a situation where the other sibling is starting to get upset can often interrupt the argument before it erupts. You can show your children how to identify the signs of anger in each other. For example, “How does your sister look when she gets angry at you? What are the warning signs?” Your child can then use these signals to walk away, take a break, or change the subject.

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