This is a time of traditions. But what if you are forced to make new ones? It happens more than any of us would like to admit. We lose loved ones through either death or just plain death of relationships. What do you do? Well speaking from experience I will tell you the mistakes I made and what I have learned
1 Do not try to change everything at once you can't. Start with something you never liked and change that one first. If you try to make a whole new holiday you end up forgetting what it is truly all about.
2 Don't worry if it ends up you don't like what you have changed. Funny thing we forget sometimes is that traditions are born from mistakes and changing til you get it the way you want it.
3 And most important. Traditions are about family and love not about who makes the best side dish or if your house is not straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. The little things are what matters. The cute little ornament made by your kids that really is perfect in it's imperfection.
I wish all of you the best that the holidays has to offer!
Kristen
So true Kristen,
ReplyDeleteHere's to family and friends and making the most of what you have during the holidays and everyday of your life.
Therese
Truth. Even though we don't like change, it has to happen.
ReplyDeleteVery True Kristen! We lost my mom 5 years ago, and that first Christmas without her (Christmas was "her" holiday - it started in October at her house!) was the hardest. For me I had a newborn (Dec. 8 birthday) so my Christmas was new all around. We tried to make our Christmas day like my mom did, but after failing, siblings not pulling their part and expecting to walk into my house and have it be mom's (on top of being sad for the loss of her just a mere 3 months earlier): I put my foot down and said - Forget This! I am not her. I cannot do what she did in the way she did. It took her years to perfect it, I was not about to pull it off overnight without her and with a newborn - that was just crazy!
ReplyDeleteSo now - we have Christmas our way. And we have had a second December baby (Dec 28 birthday) so we really have new traditions. We keep some of the old traditions, but not much. Some may work back in, but for right now, we have to focus on the craziness that we live in with these little people in our life. Things change. It is good to go forward with little steps and make new memories and traditions. It helps with the healing too...
Great post!
Well said Kristen. Our family is going through this time of making new traditions after mom passed away. Of course my siblings and I want it all the same as when mom was alive--decorated to the hilt, nice table setting, gifts under the tree. But dad, well that's a diffrent story. There will be no tree, no decorations, no tablecloth or table settings-just paper plates and food, and family, which really is all that matters.
ReplyDelete