How To Keep Your Family In Tip-Top Health This Holiday Season

Here’s what you can do to keep your family in tip-top health this holiday season.

- Amy Greenburg

Manage expectations

Christmas time is looking quite different this year. Many of us won’t be making our annual trips back home to see family and friends, and visitors will unlikely be able to travel to Singapore as planned.

While this will undoubtedly be upsetting for many, it may be particularly upsetting for younger children and adolescents who depend on these family holidays to stay connected to loved ones back home, says DR GINA DAHEL, a UK-trained pediatric doctor at International Medical Clinic (IMC) Children’s.

“As life starts to slowly return to some sort of semblance of normality, we could be forgiven for forgetting the global impact of COVID-19,” she says. “Young children, in particular, will have acclimatized very quickly to this new way of living and maybe too young to understand or be aware of what is happening elsewhere. It can therefore be difficult to explain to them that this year’s Christmas holiday with loved ones or planned visits may be canceled.”

If you happen to be in this position, here’s what Dr. Dahel suggests:

Be honest

“Discuss how this year’s Christmas might be very different from other years and what they can expect. Even very young children can understand that being healthy and staying safe is essential.”

Acknowledge their disappointment

“Help your child acknowledge that your family will celebrate Christmas a little differently this year while offering reassurance and instilling hope that next year will be better.”

Focus on the positives