Single Bells
Monday, November 9, 2015
Sister Mauryeen O'Brien, grief specialist, shares some coping strategies for single parents as they face the holiday season. She provides simple ideas for keeping the holidays simple.
by Mauryeen O’Brien
If a recent death has left you a single parent, you have your own unique challenges this holiday season. Mauryeen O’Brien, a coordinator for ministry to the bereaved and divorced for the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, says the single-parent family will benefit greatly from keeping the holidays simple. Here are her suggestions on how to do that.
- You can’t do alone all that you and your partner once did, physically or financially. Understand that time with you is what your children want most especially this year.
- Invite your children to do some of the things your partner once did, like helping to decorate the tree or bake the cookies. Things may not turn out as perfectly, but for many children it is healing to be able to accomplish what Mom or Dad used to do.
- Consider observing fewer holiday traditions or starting new ones. Again, involve the kids in the decision-making. For instance, one family decided to have a live tree because “Dad would want us to,” but to forego their usual Christmas caroling because “We just can’t face those families without Dad along.”
- Consider having a party at your place this year. This can lend stability to this new single life for you. It’s a little easier to stay in control of your social life if you are in familiar territory as host or hostess.
- Take care of yourself. Your children will fare much better if you aren’t anxious about them, overly tired, frustrated with gift-giving, and busy remembering everyone but you. It serves your family well when you are healthy.
Previous Posts
Holiday Healing
Believe it or not, the holidays are almost here. Very shortly, some of us will prepare a list of things so we can get ready for the season. It may look like this…
Christmas cards?
Check!
Hanukka...
Children, Loss and the Holidays
Since they are dealing with so many changes, be sure to tell your children you will, in fact, be celebrating the holidays. This assurance offers a child the security he or she needs to understand t...
Help for the Holidays
Sherry Williams White, nurse, writer and grief specialist, shares ten simple ideas for making the holidays easier when you have had a loved one die. You will get permission to say no and discover w...
Holiday Contract
Looking for something different for the holidays? Do you need a gift to soothe your grief? Tony Falzano, writer, songwriter and grief specialist, shares information about how music can help those w...
Holiday Survivorship Skills
The holidays are a traditional time of joy and laughter, sparkle and glitter, sharing and gift-giving, But for people who are grieving, the holidays may seem inappropriate, affronting, and painful....
Holidays are Hard Days
The holidays are difficult for all of us but when a loved one has died, the emotions of grief and the emotions tied to the holidays can be overwhelming. Susan Smith, editor and writer shares interv...
Holidays: A Survival Guide
As if each ordinary day isn’t difficult and painful enough for the bereaved to survive, along comes the holiday season with its warmth and good cheer and its traditions and customs of fam...
Hope for the Holidays
It’s about this time of the year that holiday decorations appear on the store shelves, radios play seasonal songs and people make plans to be together for those special days. But for many of us, th...
Not Just Another Day
Sherry Williams White, nurse, writer and grief specialist, shares some ideas for handling those special days that you once shared with your loved one. She explains how important it is to trust...
The Christmas Tablecloth
The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they sa...
Contact Us
Email*:
Name*:
Please enter the numbers and letters you see in the image. Note that the case of the letters entered matters.*:
Comments