How have your holiday traditions changed since becoming a single parent? Did you totally redesign what the holidays meant to you or did you stay the course, changing as little as possible?
Ours have mostly stayed the same, I am a creature of habit and I think my daughter really dislikes change. So we’ve kept most of the traditions she has known since infancy.
The biggest change is that we celebrate more with friends. That may have occurred even if I had stayed married. I think that change just naturally evolved and had nothing to do with being single. I also think it’s a very good thing, my daughter is always surrounded by people who love her and are fully present in her life.
My sisters and their children live in Utah but my parents and my brothers are 2000 miles away. My ex husband’s parents had both passed away before the divorce so I think celebrating more with friends happened naturally. Thanksgiving is usually spent with my best friend and her family, it’s always fun and there is always a crowd. Christmas is more family oriented, celebrating with my sisters and their families but we also have things we do with friends that have become tradition, like Christmas baking.
In reading other parenting blogs online I’ve discovered that people have adapted to single holidays. In some cases instead of splitting the day the parent who doesn’t have them for Christmas will pick another day and celebrate on that day, with the house full of friends and family for Christmas dinner and gift giving.
The most important thing is to do what makes your children happy. These are the memories they will carry with them into adulthood so try to reduce the stress and make it as memorable for them as possible. Traditions come and go but the love of a family is forever.