With the holiday seasons approaching, many families are starting to make plans to visit their loved ones or have them come and visit to celebrate. There are also families that aren’t celebrating or even making plans to do anything. Though many people see this as a happy time of year they get to spend with their family, there are many people and families that are struggling throughout the holiday season. Many people lose their loved ones throughout the year and holidays aren’t the same without them, so they don’t enjoy celebrating anymore. Sometimes the case might be isolating during these times, maybe talking to someone about how they feel at this time. Also, a lot of times, people push through the feeling and try to be there for everyone else, but nobody might know what they’re going through. Though many people deal with their feelings and grief in different ways, there’s always that stress and sadness when you celebrate and do things for the first time without that person. 

Loss/Grief

When you lose someone close to you, you don’t have the same excitement as you normally would for the holidays. There are many feelings that might ruin your holidays or maybe you just don;t have the same excitement and you might want to avoid these times overall. Struggling alone is what most people do, wanting to be there for their family and friends. In reality, that is not healthy at all and nobody should ever struggle alone. There are many helpful hotlines if you do not feel comfortable talking to someone you know. Trying to maintain a healthy schedule during this time is really helpful. Also trying to find the good in these times. Remember all the good times you had with this person and talk to your family about these memories. 

Eating Disorders/Appetite 

During the holidays it can be very hard for people who struggle with eating disorders. Sometimes people who are silently struggling feel intimidated or guilty when they eat during this time. Many people may eat too much or nothing at all. Some things you can do is ask for help if you feel confident doing so. Have a coping plan, remind yourself of all the good things food does for your body, set healthy boundaries, and just take it one day at a time. Don’t try to force yourself to feel a certain way before/after eating. 

Lack of Sleep/ Lack of Routine

Many children wake up for school with an alarm or have someone wake them up. It works with their routine to wake up at the same time everyday but with these breaks it might be hard for children to. It breaks up their routine which makes them tend to stay up more late and get barely any sleep. When this happens they usually can’t get up for school when we return and it makes them tired throughout the day. This can cause a student to have bad grades and start to sleep during their classes. A way to prevent this is to set a time for yourself to get up everyday to stay productive. Also try going to sleep at decent times each night so you’re well rested for the next day. 

Financial Issues

Many families struggle with financial problems during the holidays whether it’s for gift giving for their family, putting food on the table, or just trying to give someone the good holiday experiences other families go through. Many kids don’t get to eat during these school breaks because they might not have enough money.The school is a big help for this though. Many schools do food drives or clothes drives for families that can’t provide during these times. 

Family Divorce/ Loss of Tradition

There are a lot of children today that have a divorced family. Over 50% of families today are divorced and it makes a big impact on children for the holidays. There can be times when it is up to the child to determine where they want to go for the holidays because sometimes they can’t all be together at the same time. With divorce also means loss of tradition or, not tradition at all. Sometimes the best thing you can do is choose where you want to go and not have any hurt feelings. Nobody will ever be completely happy with your decisions and that’s okay. Also know it’s okay to create new traditions whether they’re with you or not. 

Changes in Family

There will always be challenges with dealing with family for the holidays. Whether not everyone can make it, or a sibling is at school or lives far, there is always the difficulty of planning. Sometimes your siblings get old enough with their own family and want to start their own family traditions and might not want to be around all the time. Sometimes you just have to accept reality for how it is and start making your own traditions. You can also always reach out to them. Now that we have text messages and mobile calls it makes it a lot easier to talk to our loved ones no matter where they are in the world.