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The holiday season, with its warm gatherings, cheerful festivities, and joyful traditions, is often depicted as a time of happiness and togetherness. However, for those coping with grief, it can be an incredibly challenging and emotionally turbulent period. The stark contrast between the external celebration and internal pain can make the holidays a particularly difficult time.
Use the following checklist to help you decide what is best for you this year. Be realistic and remember grief depletes our energy for a time. Share this with your family or have them do one of their own and compare notes.
Check what you would traditionally do with a “T” and then check with a “W” what you want to do this year.
Holiday Cards
shorten my list
include a “holiday letter”
skip this year
mail as usual
Shopping
give cash
shop on-line
ask for help
shop early
make your gifts
give baked goods
shop with a friend
ask for help wrapping gifts
make a list of gifts you want before you go
shop when the stores are the least busy
Decorations
modify your decorations
ask for help
let others do it
have special decorations for your loved one
don’t do decorations
decorate as usual
Holiday Music
avoid turning the radio on
wear earplugs while you shop
listen to it, have a good cry
attend a concert or play
listen to favorite holiday music
Holiday Dinners (including Thanksgiving)
go out to dinner
go to someone else’s house
prepare dinner in your home
invite friends over
go out of town by yourself
eat alone at home
change time of dinner
change routine, such as do a buffet
change location, eat in a different room
ask for help
Miscellaneous Traditions
attend holiday parties
don’t attend holiday parties
purchase poinsettia in honor of your loved one
plant living tree in honor of your loved one
bouquet of flowers in honor of your loved one
volunteer in honor of your loved one
bake, mut modify how much
bake the usual food
hang stockings with notes to loved one
don’t hang stockings
visit the cemetery
don’t visit the cemetery
spend quiet time alone
open gifts at a different time
open gifts a the usual time
go to your normal religious service
go to religious service, but at a different time
don’t go to your religious service
go to a totally different church service
do something for someone else
Post Holiday and New Year’s Day
take down decorations early
go out of town
avoid New Year’s parties
attend New year’s parties
have a New year’s party
spend time with a few close friends
go to someone else’s house
We hope this information is helpful to you in the important work you do as a family caregiver.
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The post Coping with Grief during the Holidays Checklist appeared first on Family Caregivers Online.
