Top tips for a tip top festive season!

I’ve just finished a teleseminar discussing some things to think about over the festive season.

You can listen to the replay on the event page and here’s a quick run through of what was covered…

Things to think about:

• Expectations: ours’, children’s, family & friends’
• Excitement and anticipation
• Overwhelm
• ‘if you’re good…’ or ‘if you don’t behave…’ messages
• Birth family:  memories, contact
• Triggers

Some of the things that can help include managing expectations, not aiming for glossy mag perfection; using calendars, planners, albums and visual cues to help build a sense of what’s coming next…

and the Top tips:

• keep it simple
• talk about what’s happening next
• stick to the plan/routine if you can
• look behind the behaviour, think about what’s driving it
• aim for fun, not perfection…

Essentially, it’s all about understanding the potential triggers and things going on behind the scenes, and finding ways to manage expectations and feelings. Leave a comment with your survival tips for Christmas…

PS as mentioned on the call, here’s the link to the bbc news video where an adoptee discusses his feelings on his birthday…