CHRISTMAS & YOUR FAMILY: THE WINTER BLUES AND YOU

By Harrison J. Bahe

On December 17th, 2024, the Early Childhood Development Center fronted by Monica Thompson and Liela Williams hosted an event in the H’man Shawa Day School gymnasium which invited parents of young ones to come in and receive some much needed information about dealing with the Holidays and your family. Those in attendance were treated to some hearty spaghetti, meatballs, salad, fruit, and cookies.

Leara Thompson, who leads a weekly group session for high schoolers on how to deal with the stress, was on hand to discuss topics such as the stressful times parents can experience during the holidays such as colder weather, sick kids, and holiday shopping. Thompson taught some methods of reducing stress to parents and children in attendance and assured that the winter blues are a common occurrence amongst people and their families.

Afterwards, the children partook in some fun activities such as placing your hand in some colored substance and printing their hand print on a paper to forever capture their imprint. The children got a kick out of that because, let’s face it, any activity in which a child can get just a little messy is always fun! The parents took those home with them and also won some amazing raffle prizes including fun board games, thermos water bottles, coffee mugs, and a magnificent blanket perfect to keep warm on those cold winter nights.