9 Easy Ways To Cut The Chaos At Christmas

This Christmas we’re going to be very mindful, very demure. I am making sure of it 😂 Last Christmas, I can’t say it was the worst Christmas because having my kids has been the best thing to happen to me. But… it was one of the most chaotic Christmases I’ve ever had. Everyone was super excited and also very grouchy and irritable by the end of it. We all honestly couldn’t wait to get back to our normal lives. And honestly - I can’t really blame my kids! When I saw how many gifts they were given in total from everyone including myself, and how overstimulated they were from overexcitement mixed with highs and lows from all the sugary snacks and food and little sleep, I honestly felt totally responsible. It even changed my outlook on toys and has changed how I’ve parented this entire year after that. You can also check out my top 5 quick self care tips for busy mums here. 

So, this year, after going through that, I made some decisions around Christmas so that doesn’t happen again - or I can reduce it, at least. Here are my top 9 strategies for keeping (somewhat) calm during Christmas.

1. Have lullaby / calming music playlists ready to go!
   This can be so useful when the energy is just becoming absolutely crazy and you can just drop everything and put on some music to cut through it all. One night recently my girls were becoming so difficult at bedtime, an idea popped into my head to put on some lullabies to help them settle down. Lo and behold there are so many good lullaby playlists out there on Spotify and they absolutely loved it - especially the Wiggles lullabies playlist! They also really love those acoustic songs for children that are really easy listening and they usually know the words to eg 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, so I’ve got some playlists up my sleeve for times when the chaotic energy starts building and I need some help from Alexa to settle them down a bit.

   
   Even just having some upbeat easy pop music on makes such a huge difference. And if you don’t have an Alexa smart speaker as your personal assistant in the kitchen already, do yourself a favour and grab one!! I recently moved mine to our newborn’s bedroom to use it for brown noise, but we missed it way too much in the kitchen and so I just had to put it back. She is so useful for busy mums I can’t even put into words!!

2. Let the kids know the plans ahead of time - and keep them involved in the making of plans. 
   This sounds like more work but it will reduce their surprises - and that will reduce their overall overexcitement. If you tell my girls grandma is coming on the day of, they will just go absolutely bonkers and it’s like a huge shock for them. Their entire day has just been changed on them. They thought their usual things are happening like regular playground visits and what not, but now it’s this massive deal with grandma coming around. However, if I tell them a week in advance, yes at first they will be so super excited, but after a few days it’ll be like old news. In fact my 4 year old is now starting to say to me “I already know, mum” lol. It doesn’t make it any less special once grandma is finally here, but it reduces that element of shock and surprise which I feel around Christmas is a good thing for their little nervous systems.

3. Use a fabric wall advent calendar to put on display. Further to my point above, one thing I’ve learnt recently is that kids are very visual and sometimes it’s easier to communicate with them that way (which is why sign language is being introduced into daycare centres). As the talk about Christmas starts all the way back in October, the lead up to Christmas can feel like this big pressure cooker that’s just building and building until the kids just burst and can’t hold it in any longer. So try introducing an advent calendar so it eases some of that pressure. They get little treats or small presents along the way, they can see it’s still quite a while until Christmas, and they can really get the most out of the season and enjoy it.

4. Bring in more of the music and movie “classics” e.g. playing the Christmas classics like the ones by Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Michael Bublè. And even watching movie classics like The Sound Of Music and Singin In The Rain. Look, they might not love it all the time. But sometimes they do love it and they will appreciate it as they grow up. I was always so grateful my parents showed me the old classics because now I appreciate it, and I feel like it’s given me respect for the old life and how we can incorporate some of it into our modern world. And - remember who’s in charge here! Maybe sometimes as the mum it’s fair enough to say, too bad if they don’t like it! They will appreciate it in years to come. We can’t have Cocomelon and Paw Patrol all the time. It’s about balance (and sanity) for everyone.

5. Drop everything and craft. Sometimes, you just need some literal peace and quiet, to get back to being very mindful, very demure. Have you ever watched Max Keeble’s Big Move? I just love when the principal of the school yells across the hall “CEASE!” and everyone stops 🤣 Sometimes in these crazy times between the presents and the food and the music and the relatives coming and going and everything else going on, you just need to STOP. Just sit in silence and quiet for a little while. So do it! My favourite way of achieving this is by introducing a simple craft activity like something made out of paper plates. I mean who hasn’t coloured a paper plate in red for a Santa face and glued on cotton balls for the beard? So easy and everyone can get involved and the best thing is, it’s a quiet activity. Phew… 

   
   And if you're not great with knowing what sort of crafts to do, here's an awesome Christmas kids craft ornament pack to keep them busy.

6. Keep decorations minimal = less overstimulation. Look, don’t get me wrong, I am all for lots of lights and decorations. This is my favourite time of the year for crying out loud!! But - if you can keep it simple, you can actually enjoy it. Keep a Christmas box and every year you can add to it with more decorations, slowly over time. You don’t need to go all out right now. In fact, why not spend money on a few expensive pieces, rather than buying lots of smaller items? For instance, I’ve had my eyes on one of those giant blow up Santa & reindeer decorations for a while now. I think this year might be it!

7. Limit the presents.
   I actually noticed with my little ones that when they open a present, they actually want to play with it (or wear it if it’s clothes or make it if it’s a craft activity) right away. They get tired from opening and opening all the gifts - I even had to keep reminding them that there’s more presents to open. Plus the amount of presents that can build up at Christmas is just insane. Let’s be real - we don’t want to limit the kids to Secret Santa that’s for sure. But on the other hand, if everyone wants to buy presents for them - aunties, grandparents (all 4 of them), other relatives, friends etc - it just gets way too many, and little kids get SO overexcited which leads to overstimulation. It ends up taking over the entire day and they get exhausted from it all. There’s wrapping and random presents everywhere and no one knows what’s what. So for me, I’m actually going to request very specific things from everyone, and I’m only going to do 3-4 gifts each. You can see my top 5 Christmas present ideas for kids that aren't toys here. All I want to do is lavish my girls with tonnes of gifts (my poor inner child must have gone through some stuff lol) but I also want to be kind to them at the same time. Again. Very mindful, very demure.

8. Limit sugar after 2pm - and this is where your bell can come in handy again. All sugary snacks like chocolates, lollies you name it, go in a big basket. The bell has gone off and that’s it. This year a huge lesson I’ve had to learn as a parent is how to just trust in myself that I know best and sometimes what I say goes - no questions asked. People can kick and scream but I’m just saying no. This is the sort of thing I’m talking about. Because otherwise, things get too out of hand for my liking and I started yelling after a while and I hate myself for it later (as much as I try not to guilt trip myself). So now I just know, being firm and saying no is better than everyone losing the plot later - and this is going to be one of those things.

9. Have a structure every day and use a hand bell to cut through the noise and have your message heard. Yes I said a legit bell - I got the idea from my daughters’ daycare 😂 One of the things I find hardest about being a parent is just how disciplined you have to be. But honestly, you’ll want to do this during this crazy chaotic time. Decide on certain times of the day where you’ll change the pace and have a clean up and reset. I’ve decided that every day we’re going to have a tidy up and morning tea / early lunch at 11am, and another tidy at about 2pm. To make it easier for me instead of raising my voice (let’s be real - in addition to raising my voice lol), I’ve bought a small bell to ring at these times. So I’ve got my daily alarms set in my phone, and when it goes off, I’m ringing the bell, putting on the tidy up song and having a reset.

Enjoyed this post? Check out the following:

• 5 Christmas Present Ideas For Toddlers (that aren't toys!!)

• 5 Quick Self Care Tips For Mums

• 5 Super Easy Christmas Traditions To Do With Kids

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