LM, Episode 1091, (this is a rewrite of one of my original ones from December 2019) 12/11/22, Kitty’s Clothes

Last week I was on a morning radio show and one of the other guests was a preschool teacher talking about children also experiencing holiday stress. Apparently sitting on a heavy set, stranger’s lap is scary for some, not to mention that this stranger is going to break into your house while you’re sleeping and worrying about if you are on his naughty or nice list. The person says the best thing you can do to help reduce your child’s holiday stress is to keep their routine the same.

When our children were young, we read to them every night before they went to sleep. Keith’s favorite book was Kitty’s Cloths, by Amye Rosenberg. Keith knew it by heart, so there was no skipping a single word and, 35 years later, I can still recall it. So, to help reduce Keifer’s holiday stress, I want to read Kitty’s Cloths now.

Kitty puts on her pants and shirt so she can go out to play.

Mother helps her with her socks and sneakers.

Kitty puts on a sweater because it’s cool and cloudy outside.

uh-oh (and Keith always said this), Uh-oh it starts to rain.

No matter, Kitty and her friends can play in their rain coats and boots.

Splashing in puddles is fun, but Kitty gets her pants and socks wet.

She takes them off to dry. Daddy helps her into her nice warm robe.

Mommy brings hot soup and bread, warm from the oven.

After supper, Kitty puts on her jammies and says, “Always remember laughter matters.”

Actually, she says night night.

I encourage you to maintain your routine to help reduce your child’s holiday stress by keeping with their routine and if you don’t have a routine, I encourage you to develop one. You will look back on them fondly in the future and laugh and you know how much laughter matters.