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Having more sleep before holiday ‘stops arguments’


Bangladeshpost
Published : 31 Jul 2019 09:14 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 09:49 PM

If you want to avoid arguments on a family holiday, make sure you get some extra sleep in the days before you travel, a psychologist advises.

Linda Blair, an author of books about parenting and calmness, says that, rather than planning to catch up sleep while on holiday, you should actually aim to nap more than usual in the days before you leave. The psychologist says a key reason for holiday arguments is that people are so "shattered" and irritable by the time they leave home, report agencies.

It might seem the wrong way round, but she says extra sleep before the holidays can help to prevent frayed tempers when you finally get away.

Emotionally fragile

These are the peak weeks for holidays, with the travel trade expecting more than 30 million people to be heading for the motorways, trains, airports and ferries over the summer.

But there is plenty of potential for a holiday to turn into a shouting match.  Ms Blair says a major pressure point is that by the time we pull on our holiday clothes and sunglasses we're already burned out.

The effort to clear the decks at work and get organised for the trip can leave us exhausted and emotionally fragile, says Ms Blair.

"Everyone gets so tired in the run-up to a holiday," she says, and they begin their journey stressed and sleep-deprived rather than relaxed. The psychologist says the combustible pressure of a family holiday is "very like Christmas", where family members find themselves cooped up together.

"If you crowd any mammals, they get aggressive," she says, warning that it is important for everyone on a family holiday to feel they have enough personal space. Ms Blair says it can take four days to start unwinding from work and to ease into a more relaxed mood. She also says if you want to avoid arguments with teenage children on holiday, then parents need to avoid over-planning and organising every minute of the family's time away.

"They don't always have to see the cathedral," she says.

Hell is other people?

But there are plenty of reasons why arguments are still going to happen.

It's not just the stress of early morning flights and wi-fi withdrawal symptoms, according to Twitter and our audience on Facebook, holiday hell is other people.