December is here and the holiday rush is upon us.  Presents to be purchased.  Parties to attend.  Tournament after tournament.  Travel and planning.  Parent definately feel the anxiety.  Teachers feel the holiday pressure.  And sometimes, kids are caught in the fray.  How can we calm down and make the holiday times easier for our kids?  How can we help our children to be less anxious, stressed, and pressured?

1.  Feel free to say no.  Maybe you and your children don't have to attend every single party, game, concert, or tournament.  Ask your children what they really want to attend and what they would perfer to skip.  Then, use the time you skipped wisely by reconnecting as a family.

2.  If you are sharing your children with another gaurgian or parent, co-parent by sharing with them if the children are being over-scheduled, or if there are events you can attend together, rather than too many things being on the schedule.

3.  Don't procrastinate.  Your children pracrastinate due to their immaturity.  As parents, we can prevent our own procrastinationation and help our children to be more organized.
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4.  Keep visible family calendars.  Help children to feel free to change these visible calendars, so mom, dad, grandparents, and other family helpers know what is going on each week.

For more ideas to protect your children, see the following website.
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Recently, our district hosted a parent math night.  We did a scavenger hunt using the App Goose chase and parent saw different things in the math program.  It was a great time and parents learned a lot about what their children do in math class.  I wanted to highlight some of the photos.  All of our pictures were taken by the parents and students as they competed in the scavenger hunt.