Well done for getting through Christmas and Boxing Day. How are you?
I was reading through this wonderful post from Jody Day at Gateway Women about reclaiming Christmas, and I urge you to take a few minutes to read it too.
It was only as I posted about my Christmas in the closed community of Gateway Women that I realised how I have started to take ownership of Christmas. We've once again spent the week by the seaside, this hasn't always worked for me but I did a few things that helped and I wanted to share them here.
- I avoided the crowds. My dog is a brave rescue girl who has got past her lead reactivity but it's not easy keeping her on track with people who let their dogs come too close. We avoided them by having a long walk across the fields on Christmas morning and I didn't see anyone, but we saw birds, rushes and lovely views across the Norfolk mere.
- I didn't feel accountable. This helps me to take control of my mental health by choosing to go away. (I am very lucky that my parents and I have had an honest conversation about this).
- We create new traditions of our own, we do not need to have children to create traditions, adults are allowed to have them too.
- I bought Christmas presents early, in October and a few last ones in November, this made it feel less overwhelming.
- I didn't listen to any Christmas music on purpose. Treating it much like any other day with presents, kept it contained.
- I manage my Facebook feed by having two accounts so social media is managed by me and not vice versa. This means I can talk to those who are involuntarily childlessness and log in as much as I want to, without triggers.
- I ran the Childlesshour Twitter chat on Boxing Day so those who needed it, had a space to talk and share and feel empowered.
Did you reclaim your Christmas? I've love to hear from you and share your story on the gallery. Grab your phone, capture your feet photo and write about what you did and how it helped you. If you didn't then please do read Jody's article, it is a very useful read or check out the Reignite Weekends that the Gateway Women Network run.
Molly on Boxing Day morning