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Here's just a few helpful hints for traveling with your families during the holidays. When you're traveling try the following:
- Plan Ahead
- Leave extra time for travel
- Check your travel routes for road conditions
- Check departure times for airlines ahead of time if traveling by air
- Plan for pet care (pet sitting, etc.)
- Make sure to bring games and activities for your child to do during car trips and airline trips
- Prepare for illness and injury (e.g., bandaids, first aid, know where local ER is if out of town)
- Double-check that you packed your necessities
- Medications
- Cell phone chargers
- Game chargers
- Any special toys for your children
- Special bedtime items
- Journal
- Homework assignments given to you by your therapist :-)
- Be Flexible
- People have a lot of expectations about how the holidays should go with family. Remember that families helped to create your buttons and they may have a tendency to push them:-)
- In general, try not to SHOULD all over yourself during the holidays
- Try to stay in the moment and enjoy your experiences, however they may come
- Communicate, Communicate, Communicate with your kids and family
- Discuss the itinerary with your family members
- As best as you can try to discuss your plans with family members
- Discuss your expectations for your children's behavior, such as manners and how we treat each other
- Discuss your expectations for how your children should behave during car trips and while in the airport(s)
- Create a plan WITH your child for what they can do if they get overwhelmed or upset during the holidays and visits
- Share the REASON FOR THE SEASON and about family traditions
- Know your own stressors and have a plan to deal with them
- Have a list of coping skills to use
- If you have a sponsor (AA), have their phone number readily available
- Take moments to soak it all in and remember that this is a vacation
- Remember to create memories along the way
- Remember that joy is always there, even if we have to take a moment to look for it
Happy Holidays from our CIPS family to yours:-)
