Divorce + holidays are HARD!!!!
Christmas is one of the most challenging times of the year emotionally when you are going through a divorce. It is easy to be angry and overwhelmed with negative emotions. However, I did not want depression to pin me into a corner. If I allowed it, my daughter would suffer through what should always be the most exciting and magical time of the year. I felt she deserved to be happy despite her father’s absence. I was clueless about how I could create a happy holiday experience without her dad being home because this was new for me too and very painful. But I knew if I did not make an effort, that Christmas experience would have been forever etched in her little memory. It would become another sad family story that I had the power to rewrite.
Mom jammies– Large// Mini me jammies Small adult
Flip the switch
I started out doing absolutely everything new. We didn’t go to familiar restaurants or continue activities enjoyed while I was married. We were a new family of two now and I needed to make that stand out in my mind in order to move on. So matching Christmas pj’s became one of our annual holiday traditions. It was a mark we made together as a new family, and I wanted my daughter to know we could be happy no matter what. When I look back, I realize how small she was.Choose happiness
I always hope I saved her from some of the pains of divorce. At least to the point where she did not miss out on the magic of Christmas. Eventually, I included other new traditions like:- Taking family holiday photos
- We bought matching aprons for a couple of years
- Attending live Christmas performances and nativity scenes
- Baking- all her idea
- Picking the annual nutcracker- all her idea
- Buying Christmas linen for all the beds in the house