Creating New Holiday Traditions After Divorce

One of the hardest challenges I had after my divorce was facing how to create new holiday traditions. I was either facing a holiday alone or I was facing changing the traditions that my children were used to. That first Thanksgiving I even gave up my Thanksgiving with my boys so that they could have the holiday they were used to. But you know what has happened over the last few years is that we have created new traditions and new ways to celebrate the holidays.

First Thanksgiving Alone is Scary

That first Thanksgiving was scary. I was used to so many traditions centered around family. I was part of that family for more than 20 years. I was used to a warm house filled to the brim with people – probably 30 to 40 people to be exact. The meal was always prepared by my brother-in-law, he made two of everything so everyone got leftovers too. All the guests would bring a small side or drinks. There would be tables even on the outside porch with heaters to seat everyone. The kids would all play down in the basement until dinner. I wanted my kids to have a chance to play with their cousins and have the big meal that first year.

That first Thanksgiving was going to be just me and my mom. I felt a big dinner would be a waste and so I started hunting out different ideas. I even turned to the internet to find other’s suggestions of what to do, but I couldn’t find anything.

It Was Time to Create My Own Traditions

I decided to create my own traditions. I called up a local theater that offered dining while movie watching and inquired if they would be open. I invited my mom to join me for a movie marathon and dinner at the theater. We watched two movies: Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Griswald and Bohemian Rhapsody. We ate a big dinner while watching the first movie and had huge hot fudge sundaes for dessert at the second movie.

Now the Movie & Dinner is Our New Tradition

This will be the third year of doing movie and dinner. 2019 I had to adjust our plans since the theater we went to didn’t have dinner, so we went to Thai afterwards. We were not able to do movie and dinner in 2020.

This year we are going back to our movie and dinner. I’m super excited because we found a lovely theater that is built into a historical building that is just lovely. Everyone in our small family is excited to go see a movie and not stress about cooking.

Create a Holiday You Love

So, if you are facing a major change in your family like divorce holidays can seem scary. But they can also become unique for you and your family as well. Think about what you really want to get from this time and start creating a holiday that you love.