Psychologist reveals best ways to explain cost of living crisis to children this Christmas
Dr Emma Hepburn, otherwise known as the psychology mum, has given advice on how to broach the subject of being skint with your kids while they’re expecting Christmas miracles.
Dr Hepburn told the Mirror: “There’s constant pressure in the build-up to Christmas, so you must do this type of Christmas tradition, you must do the elf on a shelf, you must do the Christmas Eve box — I don’t remember this when I was a kid.
“Also, you must have all these things at mealtime. I think it’s going to feed into that feeling that you’re not a good enough parent if they’re not doing all these things.
“If things aren’t discussed, it can go underground, and children are unsure whether they can actually talk about it, or talk about how they feel about it, or ask questions around it.
“It’s really, really important to enable your child to ask questions. Let them express their emotions, let them think about how they’re feeling, and give them really clear, straightforward, age-appropriate responses.”
She added: “In terms of age appropriateness, as they get older, you might want to explain a little bit more of the why and go into kind of reasons around the economy. If they’re teenagers, they can think about that.
“If they’re younger you might want to use age-appropriate resources, for example, books to stimulate discussions. I think what you always want to do is enable them to ask questions, prompt discussions, and talk about how they’re feeling.”
