Christmas is a challenge

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not going all bah humbug on you, I do love Christmas (my tree went up on the 27th November if you must know!)

However, I’ve been talking to colleagues this week and we’ve all been commenting on how the children seem more fractious and behaviour is more challenging than usual. December is upon us!

Maybe it’s because I found Mine Conkbayir’s “Introduction to Neuroscience” course absolutely fascinating, and a real benefit to my practice, but I’m able to understand better what is happening to my children – sensory overload.

Stop and think about it for a moment, we are being constantly bombarded by messages of this “most wonderful time of year”, there’s flashing lights, music blaring, constant talk about Santa, even visits to see him. It’s a huge amount of hype and excitement with no respite. Our children are exhausted and it’s only the start of the month.

Now, I’m not saying to ban Christmas, but is it time to tone it down a bit? We want children to experience the joy of childhood, and the absolutely should, but when this heady bombardment of the senses affects their ability to process and function then we need to allow them time to step back and breathe, to recover.

If you think about it, as adults we are able to switch off from Christmas because we have that ability. But do children have the cognitive skills to do this? No.

It doesn’t need to be Christmas every day, no matter what Noddy Holder says!