Christmas doesn’t end neatly for young children.
For us, it may feel like a clear finish line — decorations down, routines back, a fresh start to the year.
But for young children, Christmas is something entirely different.
It’s been weeks of songs, lights, stories, visitors, excitement, late nights, disrupted rhythms — and then suddenly… it’s over.
And developmentally, that’s a lot to process.
Children need time to live their experiences before they can play them through
Young children don’t process experiences in the moment — they process them afterwards, through play, repetition, talk and storytelling.
That’s why January can feel wobbly.
My own three-year-old is still singing his favourite Christmas songs — the ones that brought smiles, praise and attention just last week. Now he’s confused when those same songs don’t get the same response anymore.
Nothing is “wrong” here.
This is how learning works.
Children replay what mattered to them.
They return to it ag
