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Here Come the Relatives: Support for Holiday Visits
by Annie Keeling, MFA
Grandma’s coming for the holidays and she always wants a kiss, even from the littlest member.
But maybe your child isn’t at a place in her development to freely give that kiss. Maybe a kiss is too close of an experience for anyone but Mom or Dad. Or maybe she loves to give kisses but is shy around Grandma who she only sees a few times a year.
Connecting with Touch
Touch, like kisses and hugs, are for the child to give. To force the child to kiss or hug anyone teaches him to use his body to please someone else, especially one in authority.
Instead of kisses and hugs, encourage a handshake, high-five, wave, etc. Empower your youngest child by suggesting two choices and let her pick. “Grandma is here and she looks so happy to see you. Would you like to wave or give her a high five?”
An older child might have fun developing a special handshake with a relative as the holiday event progresses.
Teach your child to be polite and respectful while still maintaining his own personal boundaries. Educate relatives and others ahead of time if possible. Explain your policy around touch. With a deeper understanding, there is less chance that the relative will feel left out or offended by your child’s reserved behavior.
Labeling
Relatives often mean well with their comments and advice. Sometimes, you can respectfully nod and let them know you hear what they are saying. Other times, their comment might have a direct effect on your child. You can reframe the idea for your child then or at a later date.
Here are a few examples and some responses you can give instead.
Relative: “He's a difficult child.”
You: “He hasn’t learned that yet.”
Relative: "He's messy.”
You: Sing, “Wipe, wipe, wipe your hands.”
Relative: “She's Shy.”
You: “She’s learning to be around people.”
Relative: “You’re acting like a baby.”
You: “Do you want to be cared for like a baby right now?”
Relative: “Good job.”
You: “What a lot of time and effort making that tower.”

Sharing
The holidays often bring children together in what you hope is joyful play time. Sometimes big emotions come out of the youngest kids, though,  when you most want them to all get along.
Children under the age of 5 are trying to figure out how to play by themselves first and then how to play with others. They are most concerned about getting their own wants and needs met. Sharing isn’t a priority.
When toddlers grab an object and say “Mine!”, they are actually growing into a new stage. "Mine” is often one of the first words toddlers learn and an intellectual milestone; once a child understands the feeling of ownership, he is on his way to learning to share.
It’s not helpful to tell the child, “That’s not yours,” or “Actually that’s your brother’s toy” since this is a development phase they need to experience. Identifying ownership isn't a sign of selfishness -- it's a sign of knowledge. “It demonstrates a desire to understand the world," says Alice Sterling Honig, Professor Emerita of Child Development at Syracuse University.
Teaching a Child to Share
When children reach the age of 3 or 4, they understand that there are certain things that don’t belong to them.  As they become more independent, they may be more possessive of their favorite items, even seeing them as extensions of themselves. They are developmentally ready, though, to learn more about sharing.
Share with You. One of the first places to teach sharing is with you. This will minimize frustration and tantrums that might be present with peers. Ask to play with one of your child’s favorite toys and let her know she can ask for it back.
Safe Space. Find a shelf or cabinet where your child can place some designated special items that she doesn’t want played with by others. Teach her that if she leaves those toys in another space, anyone is free to play with them. If the child is going through a phase where every toy is special and any sharing creates an issue, then you may suggest going outside to play – or even go to a more neutral location like a park, if possible.
Turn Limit. Practice taking turns, using a timer for a short amount of time for each person. Help engage the child who is waiting with another toy or activity. A turn limit is best to practice with someone you know well, perhaps a family member or good friend. It can be more difficult with a new friend.
Keep the Toy. This idea comes from a policy at some local preschools. If a child is playing with a toy, he gets to keep it as long as he wants. This provides a feeling of relief and security to that child, and also allows for deeper creative play with the toy or object. While this may be upsetting to another child who wants that toy, a caregiver helps them to wait, express their emotions, or find something else to play with. Imagine in the adult world if we felt pressured to share everything that was ours. “Nice BMW. Can I have it for a while?” There are actually items that we would rather not share. Learning to share is still an important skill when they are ready, yet this idea helps meet children where they are at developmentally. If you try this with a play group or at your house, help the children understand this new rule before playtime. Also, mirror back any upset emotions to let a child know you are empathetic and supportive of the difficulty of waiting or finding another toy. “You didn’t like that.” “I see you’re frustrated.” “You really want that toy.”
Pulling Cards. When there is more than one child, whether it’s a sibling or play date friends, make an index card for each child with their name on it. Then when a situation presents itself for one child to go first, put the cards behind your back and pick one. The cards decide!
Play for the sake of play is the stuff of childhood. Knowing that play is how children learn and where they thrive is an excellent reminder for adults and gives permission (and necessity) for joining the kids. Some of the best memories are made when the adult relatives get in on the fun.

Annie Keeling, MFA
Parent Educator
530-210-1100
www.StartSmallParenting.com

    When our little ones come into the world, we want to ensure that they have all they need to grow and develop into healthy adolescents, and eventually into healthy, competent adults. When an infant is born, the various parts of the brain are not yet working fully together as a unit. As the child is touched, spoken to, allowed to explore their environment, and have their immediate needs met to allow a sense of security and safety, they are stimulating the brain to develop communication pathways. These pathways are essential for reaching developmental milestones, and also for enabling academic learning. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, there are times when circumstances can interrupt this process and delay the development of these essential pathways. Some of these circumstances include: illness or trauma during pregnancy, traumatic or premature birth, food allergies, disease, chronic infections, poor nutrition, exposure to environmental toxins or insufficient stimulation of the senses.  
 
     When the pathways are not stimulated or developed, children can develop a variety of problems. These problems include: attention problems, ADHD/ADD, speech deficits, bowel and bladder problems, difficulty with social interactions, feelings of overwhelm, gross and fine motor problems, poor sleep habits, and sensory processing disorder. There are a variety of therapies to assist our children in the critical developmental process, including craniosacral therapy, brain gym, and rhythmic movement therapy. 
 
    Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle, hands on techniques that works with the membranes and cerebral spinal fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The production of the cerebral spinal fluid creates a rhythm similar to our heart rate, that can be felt throughout the body.  The craniosacral therapist can use their skilled hands to assess this rhythm to guide them towards restrictions.  The craniosacral therapist operates under the belief that the body has the ability to heal itself. The core intent throughout the session is to listen to the clients own inner wisdom to guide their session.  As the restrictions are released, the body systems are then allowed to perform with increased ease and fluidity.  Craniosacral has been found to help with symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, colic, reflux, torticollis, tongue and lip tie, autism, ADHD/ADD, breast feeding problems, and sleeping disturbances to name a few.
 
   Brain Gym is a movement based therapy.  The 26 movements are based on movements that are developed during the first year of life to help coordinate the hands, eyes, ears and whole body into a smoothly functioning unit. Typically, these movements are taught in a classroom setting and have been shown to help children with concentration, improve their academic performance, improved memory, improve coordination and self-confidence. 
 
   Rhythmic Movement Therapy is similar to brain gym in that it is a movement based therapy.  However, the core intent of rhythmic movement therapy is to integrate the primitive reflexes.  Primitive reflexes are developed in utero to the first few months of life, with the core intent to allow the infant to develop their senses, improve their movement patterns, and allow them to reach their developmental milestones.  After the child has performed a movement repeatedly and has perfected this movement pattern, they can then quickly utilize this pattern and the reflex should become integrated.  An example of this, is when your child first learns to roll.  As they lie on their back, they move their arms and legs around in seemingly uncoordinated patterns. However, as they explore this movement, they start to learn that certain movements can allow their body to start to turn and eventually allow them to roll themselves over. Occasionally there are times when these reflexes do not become integrated and the reflexes can actually cause distress to the child in increasing their sensitivity to clothes, increased distractibility, poor visual acuity, clumsiness, and poor body awareness.  Rhythmic movement therapy was developed to help integrate the primitive reflexes.
 
       These three therapies are just a few that are available to help your little one attain their maximum potential.  There are many more therapies such as chiropractic, homeopathy, music therapy and nutrition.  However, I believe that the most important therapy is that which is already programmed into every parent.  To listen to your child, to ensure their safety, to play and interact with your child, to talk/sing to your child, to read to your child, and to watch in amazement as they progress in life and explore the world through their eyes.  Each child offers us a chance to learn about the world and ourselves, as long as we are willing to listen. 
 
Keri Dahlstrom PT, CST  
(530)-263-6974
https://www.heartandsoulpt.com/