This got me thinking as to how can we apply this to our School Holiday experience, especially this one in October, which is the calm before the Festive storm.
Read on to find my 10 top tips to bring a little Hygge to your October Half Term Break.
1. Atmosphere
Turn the lights down, light candles and sit in front of an open fire, sounds idyllic but the chances of being able to enjoy the peace and calm with children about might prove tricky. Could you introduce a calm activity such as colouring, lego playing or reading together?
You can use this perhaps as an opportunity to educate your children about fire safety and what they need to do in an emergency.
2. Presence
Be in the here and now. Turn off your phones, tablets and TV and be together for a few precious minutes each day. Play board or card games, cook together, get your child to teach you something they know how to do or play outside in the Autumn leaves, anything that allows you to be fully present with your children. These needn’t need to take hours, 10 minutes a day could make the world of difference.
3. Pleasure
Go enjoy the finer things in life, take your children out on a date for afternoon tea or lunch. Get them to pick what they want to do but they need to consider that you need to enjoy it as well, make them think beyond their own egocentric circle. If taking your children out to eat is not easy for you due to allergies, or their needs then what could you add to your food shop that would bring pleasure to the family?
4. Equality
Share the tasks, you are a family, so why should one person carry the load. What age-appropriate chores could your children do? Are they old enough to be taught how to cook a meal? Do a load of washing? Yes, they are children, but we also want to raise independent adults, who don’t need to call you up to learn how to boil an egg!
5. Gratitude
Be grateful and express it. Each day is a gift (even if you have to search for the said gift!). Could you build it into your children’s bedtime routine to talk through what they are grateful for each day? Encourage them to think beyond themselves.
6. Harmony
It’s not a competition, much to the contrary opinion of your children! Let us celebrate together small and big wins and be happy for those around us.
7. Comfort
Relax, recharge, take a break, and get comfy! Create a den, a reading nook, a movie night, anything that helps you all to unwind and recharge those batteries must be encouraged, especially for children that do at times need to be taught this valuable lesson.
8. Truce
How can you lessen the drama in your household? Can you plan ahead? Discuss with your children ideas to make your routines run smoother or what you can do over the holidays. Add your children’s voice to the decision-making process in your family so they know they are valued. You listen, you accept what they say and you understand where they are coming from. This does not mean you have to agree with them, however, they know they have been heard and perhaps a collaboration of a way forward can be found.
9. Togetherness
What stories and memories can you create for you and your family this holiday? This could simply be sending them to a Holiday Club but then taking time to talk to them about it when they come home. If your child is one that can never remember what happened during their day try questions such as What would X (the leader of the holiday club) tell me happened today? What was your favourite part of the day? What did you learn? Keep the questions open, rather than ‘Did you have a good day?’ there really is only a yes or no answer to this.
10. Shelter
This is your family or tribe. What can you do at home to make it a place of peace and security for your loved ones? What can your children do to contribute to this? It might be for the holidays your shelter is a holiday home, a tent, a villa overseas or a hotel, what are simple things you can do to make it a little bit like home?
Holidays can be stressful as more often than not children and parents are out of routine, my feeling is though, with a conscious effort to bring a little Hygge to your holidays you might come out calmer at the end.
Written by Anisa Lewis, founder of Parenting Success Yorkshire. Based in Ilkley, running workshops, ‘parenting parties’ and 121 coaching to help equip parents with tools and techniques to deal with the challenges that children bring, to enable parents to enjoy parenting.
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@anisalewis
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