I spotted this article in a couple of places this week, but here’s the Huffington Post’s version. It’s about coping with the holidays when you’re going through infertility, but I think that many of the points apply to any of us who are facing the holidays without children.
Here’s some of what the authors have to say:
- Decide which events you’ll attend and know you don’t have to go to everything you’re invited to.
- Think about how you’ll handle being around children, new babies, and pregnant relatives. Here’s a post about that.
- Decide how you’ll handle the prying questions about why you don’t have kids yet. You know they’re going to come, so be prepared. Here are some ideas on that.
- Start a new family tradition of your own (I highly recommend this one.) Here are some fun ideas on that front.
The point is, the holidays are supposed to be fun for everyone, including you! So don’t let some Grinch (even an unwitting Grinch) ruin it for you.
If you have other ideas for surviving the holidays, please post them here. We could all use a little help at this time of year.
3 years ago my husband was sent to Paris over Christmas for work. Luckily the economy was slightly better and I was sent along for the trip. I enjoyed a different cultural perspective on the event so if it is affordable I suggest traveling on the holiday to somewhere exotic (to you). Because of our trip we now start Christmas morning with crepes we make at home. It becomes a way to honour the festive holiday, create new traditions, explore somewhere new and the best part is that it is all childfree.
I love being able to remember “Christmas in Paris” to my childbound friends.
ps. Did anyone see the How I met your Mother this week about Robin’s discovery that she couldn’t have children? A bawdy sitcom but I found it resonated with me.
Yes I saw that episode! I really liked it and I appreciated their treatment of the subject. It spoke to me as well. They SUPER over-simplified the doctor just coming in and saying, “You can’t have babies,” but I realized that would be way too many details to deal with in one show. Very well done, I thought.
If I could have afforded it, I would’ve went to a ski chalet up North (Ontario, Canada) for the holidays–even a week or so. But since I’m not THAT rich, we are doing it with close friends and pets!!! Starting our own tradiiton sounds fun and hopefully will be a hit.