Matching family Christmas pajamas are fairly new for my daughter and me.
As in the last five years. It started with my efforts to move forward after my divorce. And we still enjoy grabbing a new set of Christmas jammies every year since we started. You can shop our Christmas pajamas here, with our friends at Theo+ Leigh. I am wearing a large and my daughter is wearing a small.
Divorce + Holidays are HARD!!!!
Christmas is one of the most challenging times of the year emotionally when you are going through a divorce. It is easy to be angry and overwhelmed with negative emotions.
However, I did not want depression to pin me into a corner. If I allowed it, my daughter would suffer through what should always be the most exciting and magical time of the year. I felt she deserved to be happy despite her father’s absence.
I was clueless about how I could create a happy holiday experience without her dad being home because this was new for me too and very painful. But I knew if I did not make an effort, that Christmas experience would have been forever etched in her little memory. It would become another sad family story that I had the power to rewrite.
Mom jammies– Large// Mini me jammies Small adult
Flip the Switch
I started out doing absolutely everything new. We didn’t go to familiar restaurants or continue activities enjoyed while I was married. We were a new family of two now and I needed to make that stand out in my mind in order to move on.
So matching Christmas pj’s became one of our annual holiday traditions. It was a mark we made together as a new family, and I wanted my daughter to know we could be happy no matter what. When I look back, I realize how small she was.
Choose Happiness
I always hope I saved her from some of the pains of divorce. At least to the point where she did not miss out on the magic of Christmas. Eventually, I included other new traditions like:
- Taking family holiday photos
- We bought matching aprons for a couple of years
- Attending live Christmas performances and nativity scenes
- Baking- all her idea
- Picking the annual nutcracker- all her idea
- Buying Christmas linen for all the beds in the house
If you are going through a divorce this Christmas, or you are in the process of recovering from a divorce, don’t throw in the towel on a merry holiday with your little ones. Create new excitement and traditions to enjoy together in a new family structure.