hi there. well, for starters, the good thing is you know it's coming. so you can prepare for it. i would try and start some new traditions. something to get out of the house. we try and go to IHOP on christmas eve as that used to be a trigger for samantha. we also do things like volunteering to serve the homeless or what not. a few keys that we found to be helpful:
1. new traditions or new ways to celebrate
2. expect it to be tough, but find ways to NOT just stay home and do the same thing and don't allow yourself to sit and sulk.
3. having said that, schedule a time to grieve. maybe say to yourself, later tonight, at 9pm when the kids are in bed or what not, i'll find a safe place by myself to cry and get it all out. but not till then. that way during the day you can say, 'nope, not now, later i will do this.'
4. this isn't practical always, but some christmas's we had a decent amount of money so we went overboard a bit for distractions and meals and what not. then sometimes, it was very very tight and we simply made due in ways that were more cost effective, but we planned around it and didn't allow either one of us to be paralyzed.
some ideas...
hi there. well, for starters, the good thing is you know it's coming. so you can prepare for it. i would try and start some new traditions. something to get out of the house. we try and go to IHOP on christmas eve as that used to be a trigger for samantha. we also do things like volunteering to serve the homeless or what not. a few keys that we found to be helpful:
1. new traditions or new ways to celebrate
2. expect it to be tough, but find ways to NOT just stay home and do the same thing and don't allow yourself to sit and sulk.
3. having said that, schedule a time to grieve. maybe say to yourself, later tonight, at 9pm when the kids are in bed or what not, i'll find a safe place by myself to cry and get it all out. but not till then. that way during the day you can say, 'nope, not now, later i will do this.'
4. this isn't practical always, but some christmas's we had a decent amount of money so we went overboard a bit for distractions and meals and what not. then sometimes, it was very very tight and we simply made due in ways that were more cost effective, but we planned around it and didn't allow either one of us to be paralyzed.
i hope this helps in some ways for you.