Feel Good Friday – Holiday Traditions

It’s another Feel Good Friday, together with the Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton-Kent, sharing ways you can continue to take care of your mental health and things you can do to feel GOOD!

This week’s #FeelGoodFriday is about the importance of keeping traditions!

“We know more than ever that this year’s holiday festivities may look a lot different, but focusing on keeping holiday traditions alive is crucial. Maybe you go tobogganing, or cut down your own Christmas tree, or maybe go and see the Celebration of Lights – whatever your family traditions are, continuing them can provide you and your loved ones with comfort, make us feel secure and safe, can decrease our stress levels, and allow us to bond with one another.”

What is something you look forward to doing every holiday season?

We get a real tree every year.  For a long time now we’ve been going to a store parking lot and picking one out.  The older our kids get, the less they want to come with us.  We used to make a day of it.  But it gets expensive, and everybody seems to have other plans.  And it just seems “easier” to go down the street than make it a family adventure day and hit the road to go find the tree.

This year is different.  I think we realize the value of family and quality time.  I think we realize that busy isn’t always a good thing.  So this weekend, we are making a day of finding the perfect tree.  Spending the day together.  Making memories.  Because now more than ever, it matters.

I love to bake.  Last year, I think – again – it got too busy.  And if you’re feeling stress or pressure to do it, you don’t want to.   

This year, I’m baking.  And I’m going to start this weekend.  So I can actually ENJOY the cookies over the next two weeks.  Instead of rushing to get it all done in a day.

My son is 29. He’s in Calgary where he’s lived for over five years now.  I miss him terribly and it’s impossible for him to come home right now.  When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he asked for my Christmas cookies.  Which meant more to me than he knows.  To me, he’s searching for the comfort of home.

We’ll watch the same Christmas movies while we bake  and decorate the tree.  Home Alone.  Miracle on 34th Street.  The Grinch. And with any luck, I get my way and get to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Just like when I was a kid.

My kids still have to wait until we are out of bed on Christmas day to open gifts and see what Santa might have brought.

We’ll have pop tarts for breakfast, a tradition from my husbands side of the family.

There will be a turkey dinner, pj’s all day, and it will be nice and quiet except for when  I will push for lots of pictures to drive my family a bit nuts.  It’s what I do.  (smile)

Keep your traditions.  It matters.

*****If you are feeling disconnected, stressed or anxious during this holiday season, CMHA Lambton Kent is here for you. Asking for help means that you want to make changes and you are taking steps towards your new health goals. If you are in need of immediate assistance, please call CMHA Mental Health Response Service Available 24/7 1-800-307-4319 in Sarnia, and 1-866-299-7447 in Chatham-Kent ****

Categorised in: Afternoons Fridays

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan