The holidays can be complicated if this is the year you learned you are the parent of a transgender child. They may be complex, no matter how many years it has been. You may feel sad, overwhelmed, or not in the holiday spirit. You may wonder how to deal with personalized items, holiday cards, or get-togethers.
Let me help. I have posts you can read and videos you can watch, and I will compile them all into this post for easy reference.
Managing Family and Gatherings
Managing Expectations During the Holidays: your own, your family's, and other people's. In this post, I also discuss navigating sending holiday cards if your child still needs to transition socially. It also talks about holiday gatherings and what to do about unsupportive family members.
Video: Managing Expectations During the Holidays - where I talk about identifying what makes the holidays hard and how you can opt out. You can watch this on Instagram here and Facebook here.
Setting Boundaries During the Holidays: setting boundaries is important at any time, but especially during the holidays. This post talks about knowing your boundaries ahead of time and deciding what you will and will not tolerate regarding your child. It focuses explicitly on knowing when to stay home, knowing when to leave, and knowing your limits.
What To Do With...
What to Do With Personalized Items: what do you do with all those items you have with your child's birth name on them? This post focuses on ornaments and stockings and also addresses how to navigate addressing greeting cards.
Video: What to Do With Personalized items - where I talk about what to do about personalized stockings and ornaments. You can watch this on Instagram here and Facebook here.
Creating a Memory Box: one way to save personalized items with your child's birth name on them is to create a memory box. This post details how to do that.
Video: Creating a Memory Box - where I show you the memory box I made after my youngest came out as transgender, what I put in it, and why. You can watch this on Instagram here and Facebook here.
Grief and the Holiday Season
Making Space for Grief This Holiday Season: the holidays can amplify feelings of loss and sadness. This post gives tips for navigating sorrow and options for managing grief by first identifying what is hardest.
Video: Making Space For Grief This Holiday Season - in which I talk about navigating sadness during the holidays. You can watch this video on Instagram here (not available on Facebook).
Grief at Christmas: this post talks about compounded grief - when you are grieving multiple things at once and how to manage that pain and loss during the holidays.
Subscribe to get my latest content by email, and I'll send you SIX questions to ask yourself before sharing that your child is transgender: because it can be a little overwhelming and sometimes you just need to know where to start.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
