Parenting During the Holidays: Take Time to Slow Down

Time is fleeting, just like Frosty. Learn how to slow down this Christmas, be fully present with your children, and find joy in simple moments before they melt away.

Parenting During the Holidays: Slow Down | A Lesson from Frosty the Snowman

Melting Moments: We Won’t Get This Time Back

"Frosty the Snowman was a jolly, happy soul..."

There's something bittersweet about Frosty's story. A magical snowman comes to life, brings joy to children, and then—as the temperature rises—begins to melt. "I'll be back again someday!" he promises as he waves goodbye, but the children are left with only memories and the hope of next winter's snow.

The story ends hopefully, but it carries an undercurrent of sadness. The best things don't last forever. Time moves forward. Moments slip away.

If you're a parent, you feel this truth acutely. Your toddler, who needed you for everything, is suddenly tying his own shoes. Your elementary student who loved snuggling for storytime now wants to read independently. Your teenager, once a reluctant writer, is now preparing her college applications. Time doesn't pause, no matter how tightly we try to hold on.

And during the Christmas season—when schedules fill with activities, shopping lists grow, and expectations mount—it's easy to rush through days without truly experiencing them. We're so busy creating the perfect holiday that we miss the actual moments right in front of us.

Frosty's story, for all its whimsy, carries an important reminder: time is fleeting. The moments we have with our children are temporary. And simple joys—building a snowman, laughing together, being fully present—matter more than we often realize.

Slowing Down to Savor Fleeting Moments

Ephesians 5:15-16 reminds us to make the best of the time we have: "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." This isn't a call to pack every moment with productivity or to feel guilty about rest. It's a call to intentionality. To awareness. To recognizing that each day is a gift that won't come again.

When we understand this, it changes how we approach the Christmas season—and parenting in general. We stop rushing through moments to get to the next thing. We pause. We notice. We savor.

Because just like Frosty, these moments with our children won't last forever. The magic button on the snowman doesn't keep him from melting; it just brings hope that there will be more snow days ahead. But this particular snow day, this particular moment, this particular version of your child—it's here now and will soon be gone.

The Tyranny of Busy

Why is it so hard to slow down? Why do we fill calendars until they overflow and then wonder where the time went?

Sometimes it's external pressure. We feel we should attend every holiday event, accept every invitation, sign up for every activity. We don't want our children to miss out, so we say yes to everything.
Sometimes it's internal drive. We believe that good parents do all the things—bake cookies, decorate elaborately, create perfect Christmas card photos, attend every program. We measure our success by how much we accomplish.
Sometimes it's distraction. Even when we're physically present, our minds are elsewhere—on our phones, replaying earlier conversations, planning tomorrow's tasks.

As homeschool parents (and parents in general), we have a million visible and invisible tasks that require our time and sacrifice, which can make it hard to slow down. From organizing the materials for the week’s lessons to cooking dinner, considering how the holidays will impact your homeschool schedule and other everyday tasks, slowing down may seem daunting with such a full to-do list.

But here's what gets lost in the busyness: connection. Presence. The simple joy of being together without an agenda or schedule.

It’s also important to remember that God calls us to slow down—to be set apart by knowing how to be still and how to rest. Heather Thompson Day said it like this: "Our exhaustion isn't evangelism, and our hurry isn't holy. In fact, we worship a God who commands our rest and therefore commands our absence. Rest should be a fundamental habit of the Christian spirit. [...] Your rest is holy. Your peace has purpose. Your absence is a ministry. God has never asked you to be a steady hand in every room."

Frosty didn't do anything particularly impressive. He didn't have an elaborate plan or educational activities. He just played with children. He ran through town, had adventures, and brought laughter. The children didn't need him to be productive or efficient. They needed him to be present and engaged. That's what our children need from us, too.

Parenting During the Holidays: How to Be Present

Being present doesn't require grand gestures. It's simpler than that—and somehow harder.

Put away distractions. When you're with your children, actually be with them. Put the phone in another room. Close the laptop. Turn off the mental to-do list running in your head. Give them your full attention.
Notice small things.: The way your child's eyes light up when they see Christmas lights. The excitement in their voice when they tell you about something they learned. The concentration on their face as they carefully frost cookies. These details matter.
Slow your pace. Something a pastor once said really hit hard: Jesus walked; he never ran or rushed. Why are you? You don't have to rush from one activity to the next. It's okay to linger. To let conversations meander. To spend an extra ten minutes watching snow fall because your child finds it fascinating.
Engage fully. When you play with your children, actually play. Get on the floor. Enter their imaginary world. Be silly. Laugh genuinely. Don't just supervise—participate.
Create margin. You can't be present if you're constantly running late or stressed about the next obligation. Build space into your schedule. Say no to some things so you can say yes to presence.

Simple Joys Matter Most

In the opening of Frosty's story, children build a snowman—one of the simplest, most timeless activities imaginable. No special equipment needed. No cost. Just snow, imagination, and time together.

These simple activities are often the ones children remember most fondly:

Reading together on the couch (Check out Sonlight’s Christmas book collection)
Making hot chocolate after playing in snow
Driving around to look at Christmas lights
Singing carols in the car
Baking cookies (even if they're imperfect)
Building blanket forts
Walking through the neighborhood on a cold evening

None of these requires extensive planning or expense, just presence. Jesus modeled this:

He didn't rush through interactions (Luke 8:43-48).
He noticed individuals in crowds (Luke 19:1-10).
He took time for children when disciples wanted to send them away (Matthew 19:13-14).
He attended weddings and dinner parties (John:1-12; Mark 2:13-17, Luke 7:36-50, Luke 11:37-54).

When we're intentional about simple joys, we're teaching our children that happiness doesn't require elaborate circumstances. Joy is available in ordinary moments when we're present enough to recognize it.

Teaching Children to Be Present Too

In a world of constant stimulation and instant gratification, children also need help learning to be present. They're learning from us—if we're always distracted, they'll assume that's normal.

Help them practice presence:

Limit screen time. Especially during the holidays, protect family time from devices. Create phone-free zones and times (that the whole family can observe).
Teach observation: "What do you notice about the tree? What sounds do you hear? How does the cocoa smell?" Help them engage their senses.
Model contentment. Let them see you enjoying simple things without needing to make them bigger or better. "I'm really enjoying sitting here with you right now."
Resist the idea of “more.” You don't need to constantly entertain them or provide new experiences. Boredom is okay. Repetition is okay. Simple is okay.
Practice gratitude. Before bed, share one thing you're each grateful for from the day. This trains attention toward goodness that might otherwise go unnoticed.

The Holidays Can Feel Hard. Be Present in Those Moments, Too.

The holidays can be hard. Not only can the season be stressful, but for some, the holidays may also bring grief. If you're facing an empty chair at your table this year—whether through death, distance, estrangement, or circumstances beyond your control—please know you're not alone in your sorrow. We pray for you in this season that God would meet you in your pain and hold you close when the happy chaos around you makes the absence feel even sharper.

You don't need to hide your grief or pretend to feel joy you don't have. God is present in your sadness, too. It's okay to step away when you need to. It's okay to cry. It's okay to acknowledge that this year, the holidays hurt. Being present doesn't mean forcing yourself to feel festive; it means allowing yourself to feel what you actually feel, trusting that God is with you in it.

Prioritize hope, peace, joy, and love, as you prepare your hearts for Christmas with our Advent Unit Studies.

Frosty's story ends with him melting—but also with the promise "I'll be back again someday." There's sadness in goodbye but also hope for future joy.

As Christian parents, we hold an even greater hope. Yes, our children grow up. Yes, time passes. Yes, seasons change. But we're not just accumulating memories to look back on wistfully. We're investing in eternal relationships.

The connections you're building now—through presence, through simple joys shared, through love expressed in ordinary moments—these don't end when your children leave home or when you reach the end of life. They continue in God's eternal kingdom.

This should free us from the pressure to make every moment perfect. We don't need to grasp desperately at time or feel guilty about moments that didn't go as planned. We're not trying to freeze time; we're trying to steward it well.

This Christmas, Slow Down.

So here's the challenge, as you’re homeschooling and parenting during the holidays: Build a snowman. Literally, if you have snow. Metaphorically, if you don't. Do something simple with your children just for the joy of being together.

Because like Frosty, these moments won't last forever. Your children are growing, changing, becoming. The version of them that exists today will be different tomorrow. But today—right now—they're here. You're here. The opportunity to be fully present is melting away even as you read these words.

Don't miss it.

Because in the end, what your children will remember isn't the perfect Christmas you created. It's the feeling of being fully seen, fully known, and fully loved in ordinary moments that you choose not to rush past.

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