Awesome Holidays with ADHD

Beth Skaret
Oct 24, 2018
7 min read

Updated: Jul 7, 2025

Awesome Holidays with ADHD

Want to know how to have awesome holidays with ADHD? Hold onto your tinsel because I’ve got a plan that will help keep things under control so you and your family can finally enjoy the holidays without all the ADHD drama.

Awesome Holidays with ADHD begin with great plans.

Plan your schedule and prioritize: What matters most to you and what could you live without doing?

Holidays get REALLY FULL REALLY FAST. Do you have to do everything? Go to every party? Every family event? Every concert or play?

Not if in means putting unneeded stress on your family. What good is it to be at every event if you end up miserable and wishing you could have stayed home?

Wouldn’t you rather enjoy the events that you choose to go to? Of course you would. And so would your family. Give yourself permission to say, “No thank you, not this year.”

So how do you choose?

Make a list of all the things you usually do and then prioritize them. I like this sorting strategy:

Rate from 1-5:

1 “ I always regret going to that.”

2 “I could do without it, but I feel like everyone expects me to be there.”

3 “It’s fun, but more for me than it is for my family.”

4 “I really like going to this with my family, but we’ve done that every year and it gets kind of old.”

5 “I can’t imagine our family having a holiday without this.”

After you’ve rated everything, try to do mostly fives, but limit your schedule so you only do 1 big thing per week.

No, that isn’t impossible...it just requires a little sacrifice for the greater good...you can do that for the good of your family.

Jesus took time away from the crowds and business. Not because he didn’t love the people, but because he needed to have time with just his disciples and the Father.

Matthew 5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
Matthew 8:18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
Matthew 14:22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.
Matthew 15:39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.
Mark 6:45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.
Mark 8:10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.
Mark 4:36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.

Awesome Holidays with ADHD include

Quiet time and Rest.

Yeah, right...rest during the holidays...ha ha. That’s funny!

I’m absolutely serious (but I totally get it).

You need to rest in order to give your best to the ones you love. Your family, including your child with ADHD, needs to have a regular rest time too.

You need to know that amid the business of whatever is going on each week, a break is coming.

For those of you that work full time...how much do you look forward to your day off?

For those home full time with little ones...how much do you look forward to nap time or when another adult comes home to give you a break?

How much do your kids look forward to the weekend to have a break from school?

It’s not because you don’t enjoy the activities, it’s because you need to have rest time too.

Jesus rested on the seventh day after a full week of creating and enjoying his busyness. (Genesis 2:2)

When Jesus came to visit Lazarus, Mary sat down and hung out with her savior instead of running around keeping everyone busy with all the celebrating. She got it. (Luke 10:39)

Your child with ADHD especially needs to have scheduled time to rest. Remember that consistency is KING with ADHD.

Holidays are the OPPOSITE of consistency. It’s thing after thing and event after event of unusual, out of the normal routine activity.

That kind of stress is enough to put an ADHD kiddo through the roof!

So, what do you do?

Set aside time EVERY DAY that is quiet time. It doesn’t matter where you are. You could be traveling; staying with relatives, or at a hotel; having company over...doesn’t matter.

EVERY SINGLE DAY there is a planned time that is quiet and calm.

You could have a read aloud time with a favorite book with your family.
You could have a longer devotion time and prayer time.
You could take a walk around the block if the weather is good.
You could sit and color with your kids or have them make cards for people.

It could be anything. Just find a quiet space away from lots of people and spend 30-60 minutes just doing something calm and relaxing. Make it fit with your family and your space.

Also, plan (at least) one day a week where you and your family do not have to go anywhere or do anything out of the ordinary.

You’ll find you look forward to it, and so will your family.

Awesome Holidays with ADHD include familiar things.

If consistency is KING with ADHD, then familiarity is QUEEN. Our ADHD kiddos get very irritable when they don’t know what to expect.

That is why we need to try to keep a familiar routine. It’s not easy by any means when you are traveling or have company staying with you.

Just having a disruption in the school schedule sets many kiddos off. But if you plan your activities (see above) and fill your child in on what to expect and how to behave in the new situation, it can be a game changer.

If you are traveling...bring along familiar items to keep the new setting a little more calming.

Their own pillow or blanket.
A favorite toy or stuffed animal.
A favorite game to play.
Their favorite snacks - side note: if your kid is a picky eater or has sensory issues with food...ALWAYS have a stash of something on hand when you travel.
A CD or playlist of their favorite songs.

If company is staying at your home try your best not to displace your child from their room.

It is far better to have a guest on the couch than it is to have an ADHD child needing a place to go calm down and having no where to send them.

If you worry that your guests will be offended, just tell them the truth. Either they will understand and go along with it or stay at hotel OR they won’t understand.

If it’s the latter, then they never would have understood the meltdown that ensued when your kiddo couldn’t escape to his or her room anyway.

Besides, it’s your family’s holiday too.

Awesome Holidays with ADHD include working together.

Many times when holiday activities are in full swing the adults get busy with prep and the kids run around getting underfoot or are sent to run around unsupervised.

Probably NOT the best plan when you have an ADHD kiddo that might impulsively do something …..well… you know.

So, what do you do?

Include them in the work!

You’ve got a lot to do. You could use the help. Let the kid help.

Have them set out utensils or napkins on the table.
Have them put the salad in the salad bowl.
Let them help mix up the cake batter or stir up the Chex mix.
Let them help decorate.- fun aside: I always end up with a box of ornaments at Christmas that I don’t really know where to put (homemade yarn and paper craft things), so I let my kids go around the house finding special places to put them. They love it!
Have them be the entertainment! Give them a challenge to act out a Bible story or sing a song or recite a memory verse for the guests while they wait. - Big winner there!

When you include your child in the work they feel like they’ve done something valuable. It gives them a chance to shine and be a part of the activity instead of just “along for the ride.”

Awesome Holidays with ADHD include being aware.

You know your child like no one else does. You know what things are liable to trigger anxiety, meltdowns or power struggles.

Think ahead into your scheduled activities and see if there is anything that could potentially create a problem.

Discuss these possibilities with your kiddo (if they are old enough to do so) and make a plan together for how you will handle it.

If sharing a favorite toy with cousins might cause a problem, agree to put the toy away in a safe place until after they leave.
If having to sit at a table surrounded by 12 extended family members all talking loudly is going to create stress, agree to have a kiddie table or maybe use a TV tray and a single chair for your kiddo in a quieter part of the house.
If you are away from home and there is too much noise and activity, plan ahead for where your quiet “escape space” will be and plan to check in with your child every hour to make sure they are still okay.

You know you child. You know what is likely to be a problem. Work together to make a plan and then stick to the plan as much as possible.

If something doesn’t work out, you’ll know for next time and you can revise your plan or maybe just not do that event.

Those are just a few of the things you can do to have amazing, AWESOME Holidays with ADHD.

Now it’s up to you to make a plan and start your holiday season off with the tools you need to make it AWESOME!