WEBVTT - Prepare for the week after Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that Christmas tends not to really be over

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<v Speaker 1>on December twenty fifth. Many people are still off work,

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<v Speaker 1>but even if they aren't, many kids are still off

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<v Speaker 1>of school. To avoid going stir crazy, it is best

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<v Speaker 1>to figure out a plan for this post holiday time

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<v Speaker 1>of year. Don't let it catch you by surprise. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of December is spent in the build up to Christmas.

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<v Speaker 1>If your family celebrates this holiday, and particularly if you

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<v Speaker 1>do stockings and presents on Christmas Morning, then a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the holiday prep does have to happen by then.

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<v Speaker 1>But then what My kids are generally out of school

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<v Speaker 1>until January first teach year this year. Since January first

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<v Speaker 1>is on a Thursday, they go back to school on Monday,

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<v Speaker 1>January fifth. I don't have to tell you that there

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<v Speaker 1>is a lot of time between December twenty fourth and

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<v Speaker 1>January fifth. This is one reason we are traveling this year,

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<v Speaker 1>but we don't always, and even someone taking a few

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<v Speaker 1>days away would still have a lot of days to

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<v Speaker 1>work with. Not everyone gets this many vacation days either,

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<v Speaker 1>so best to come up with a plan, so each

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<v Speaker 1>day is a repeat of those early days of COVID

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<v Speaker 1>when we were trying to work with kids at home underfoot.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure how many people remember that time fondly. First,

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<v Speaker 1>if you do plan to work, then you and your

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<v Speaker 1>partner if you have one, need to figure out a

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<v Speaker 1>schedule for who is with the kids. You could trade

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<v Speaker 1>off and each party could take the kids out to

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<v Speaker 1>various trampoline parks or science museums or what have you

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<v Speaker 1>each day, or you could enroll your kids in a

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<v Speaker 1>break camp, which many communities have, as do many commercial

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<v Speaker 1>establishments like rock climbing gyms. Even if you do plan

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<v Speaker 1>to take all these days off work, you are probably

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<v Speaker 1>going to want at least something of a break, So

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<v Speaker 1>establish a few hours at least when you will trade

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<v Speaker 1>off with your partner or you will hire a babysitter.

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<v Speaker 1>As for the time you are covering, why not make

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<v Speaker 1>a post holiday fund list. There might be items from

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<v Speaker 1>your original holiday fund list that you haven't gotten to

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<v Speaker 1>yet but that are still available, or you might want

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<v Speaker 1>to repeat them. For instance, if you wanted to go

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<v Speaker 1>ice skating, I am guessing that your ice skating rink

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't close after Christmas, Lots of light displays will still

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<v Speaker 1>be lit. The Nutcracker may still be being performed. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>these are all things even people who aren't tending small

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<v Speaker 1>kids might choose to do to stretch out the holiday fun.

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<v Speaker 1>If the weather is terrible in your part of the

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<v Speaker 1>world in late December and early January, you might look

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<v Speaker 1>for some indoor fun. Make a list of the indoor

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<v Speaker 1>options for families in your community and create a rough schedule.

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<v Speaker 1>When can you go to a movie? When should you

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<v Speaker 1>do an escape room? For bonus points, you might try

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<v Speaker 1>to get other people to join you. Speaking of which,

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<v Speaker 1>play dates are a great way to fill the post

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas hours. Over the holidays, it might be possible to

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<v Speaker 1>have more of a family playdate. Go hang out with

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<v Speaker 1>another family and the kids can play in one area

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<v Speaker 1>while the adults chat in another. You might make visits

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<v Speaker 1>to extended family members. Indeed, it can be fun to

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<v Speaker 1>have an extended family celebration after Christmas so you can

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<v Speaker 1>stretch out the gift giving fun. And who knows, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>some relatives will take the kids for a bit while

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<v Speaker 1>you are there, giving mom and dad a break. We

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<v Speaker 1>often plan tightly in the weeks before Christmas, because there

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<v Speaker 1>is so much schedule during this time. It is not

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<v Speaker 1>easy to get to all the holiday performances and parties

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<v Speaker 1>and get enough work done to be ahead of the

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<v Speaker 1>game for the time off over the holidays. But then

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<v Speaker 1>we get to the holidays and everything is a lot

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<v Speaker 1>less tight. That is fine in some ways, but when

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<v Speaker 1>your kids have been watching YouTube for ten hours straight

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<v Speaker 1>but still interrupting you every ten minutes, things might feel

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit crazy. Making best to avoid that if possible.

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<v Speaker 1>Think through the week after Christmas, and you might just

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<v Speaker 1>feel festive and merry rather than harried. And I want

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<v Speaker 1>that for everyone listening to this in the meantime, This

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.