Checking It Twice: When Holiday & Parenting Checklists Overwhelm.....Try This

Every holiday season, it shows up quietly.

A feeling parents often struggle to name but feel deeply:

“I’m behind.”

Behind on shopping.
Behind on traditions.
Behind on how life is supposed to look right now.

So I often ask a gentle question:

Behind… according to whom?

What happens when the holiday checklist gets as ambitious as the parenting checklist?

Somewhere along the way, the lists meant to help us organize our lives start to measure our worth. Not just as parents, but as families.

We live in a culture that constantly signals what a happy, successful life should look like:

• Joyful kids

• Full traditions

• Magical memories

• Calm, regulated parents who somehow do it all

And when our reality doesn’t match that picture, we don’t say “this year is different.”
We say “I’m behind.”

But different doesn’t mean behind.

For many families, this season looks different because it needs to:

• A child may need more emotional support

• A parent may need rest

• A family may be redefining success, health, or balance

• Old expectations may no longer fit

That’s not failure.
That’s awareness.

Healthy families aren’t built by keeping up with outside noise.
They’re built by paying attention to what this family needs right now.

A Gentle Holiday Reframe

Instead of asking:
What am I missing?

Try asking:

• What actually matters most to us this season?

• What can be simpler, or let go?

• Where am I choosing presence over performance?

Sometimes the most meaningful moments aren’t on the checklist at all.

If you’re craving reflection instead of more pressure, this is exactly why I wrote my books — as permission slips for parents to step off the timeline and reconnect with what truly matters. And if you want to explore these ideas together, our upcoming book club offers space for honest conversation, not comparison.

No perfect checklist required.
Just your family, right where you are.

Parents who have read my books, say they feel like a permission slip. Permission to slow down and focus one what matters most to your family, right now. Redefining Success For Every Child: The Family, Flow & Fit Approach to Achieving Personal Best and This Stops Now: Shattering The Pattern of Perfection & Parenting In Overdrive available on Amazon or on my website www.siahfriedcoach.com.

Find out more about my coaching program, Move FORWARD, for parents and families by scheduling your complementary call here.