https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 14 May 2026 14:11:19 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187771 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:05:40 +0000 heartonastring 1187771@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: :heart: Thinking of you often :heart: </p> <p>My stepdad passed away 2.5 years ago and that Christmas was really hard for my mum and me. We kept it pretty low key and got a new ornament for the tree in memory of him. It gets easier with time, but that first year after he died was really, really hard. I feel for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187697 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:42:29 +0000 MrsH 1187697@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: same here. Since my Dad passed away the holidays are very bittersweet.</p> <p>Personally I just try and talk about my Dad and remember all the things that he loved during the holidays or that he would do during the holidays. It makes me feel better to talk about him even if it might make me tear up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187607 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:22:11 +0000 whenoceansrise 1187607@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Christmas is usually kind of sad in my family. My dad's birthday was on Christmas and he passed away 3 years ago from a teenage girl texting while driving. We try to do new things on Christmas though to lighten the mood a little. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187554 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:08:33 +0000 blackbird 1187554@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>&lt;3. They are hard. They've been hard ever since my brother passed away. As time goes on, they get less difficult because I find happier things to focus on. This year will be hard because my grandmother passed away last week. </p> <p>Holidays just make you miss your loved ones </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187526 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:01:33 +0000 mrsmate 1187526@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: :heart: :heart: :heart: hugs</p> <p>I wouldn't say they're hard one me, but they're kind of an inconvenience. I know I sound like a wet blanket, but they just take us out of our routine and it falls on me to get us back. Also, my choices are driving 4hrs to see my family where I end up doing all the cooking or driving 1hr to spend it w/DH's family where I just end up missing my family. :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187284 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:55:55 +0000 Alivoo01 1187284@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>big tight hugs!!! &lt;3 So sorry to hear. :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187223 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:33:43 +0000 mediagirl 1187223@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh, @pepper, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you are going through after losing her so quickly. I would think this year will be the hardest and while they will all be hard from here on out, they will get easier. I hope you have other family around to surround you in love during the holiday season. {{hugs}} </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1187216 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:32:07 +0000 regberadaisy 1187216@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: is this your first one after her passing?<br /> The first one is always the hardest but I promise each subsequent one gets a little easier. Having a LO to celebrate with is also a great distraction and a great way to remember that the holidays are also full of joy. </p> <p>My BIL passed away suddenly 3 weeks before Christmas at the young age of 34. It will be 3 years of his passing in a few weeks. The first Christmas was so unbelievably hard. My ILs were still in GA at that point and we had no little one. DH &amp; I flew down there for Christmas so we could all be together and get through it together with family. </p> <p>I hope your LO helps ease the pain a little. Hoping you have family nearby to remember fondly of holidays past with your mom. (((hugs))) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186974 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 23:38:16 +0000 MamaJ 1186974@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yep :( I lost my mom around the holidays. My dad's birthday is during the holiday season and he has passed away too. Trying to focus on LO as much as I can this year! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186971 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 23:36:32 +0000 MamaCate 1186971@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: I am so sorry for your loss. I don't have direct experience with losing a parent but I have friends who have found things to do to help remember/feel that their loved one is present in some way. Maybe playing a favorite song or putting a christmas trinket that was a favorite in a prominent place, or making a favorite dish of hers? My mom lost her dad over 10 years ago and we still have shrimp at lots of occasions because "he would have liked it". </p> <p>The holidays have gotten more complicated for us due to family health issues and increased distance between my brother and I as DH and I have started a family and he and his wife continue to be DINKs and there is just not much in common. </p> <p>I am going into this year trying to give myself permission to feel my feelings, basic as that sounds, and to relax and let go of things having to be a certain way. I don't know if those might be helpful ideas for you too... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186913 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 22:38:32 +0000 Espion 1186913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I totally understand. :( My FIL passed on Christmas Day two years ago a couple months after we got married. It was such a hard time and I know we will never have a Christmas where we don't think of him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186868 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 22:03:04 +0000 ZombieBullfrogHoller 1186868@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: I feel you. This is the second holiday season after losing my mom to ALS and it will be LOs first holiday, too. Last year was hard. But this year, like you said with LO experiencing everything for the first time, it seems even harder and definitely bitter sweet. He was crying the other day as I was driving us home and I started singing Christmas songs to him. I started singing Frosty the Snowman and got choked up halfway through and just bawled because that was OUR song during Christmas sing alongs and it hit me that I would never share all of those little holiday traditions between us with her again, but I could pass them on to LO. Oh, boy. It's tough. I'm sorry you're going through it, too &lt;3 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186857 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:59:49 +0000 MrsCastro 1186857@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: I am SO sorry for your loss!!! Losing a parents is one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. I lost my dad last Nov 11, right before the holidays. It was tough we still got together for the holidays as a family but it was really low key. If it would have just been us adults we probably wouldn't have done anything, but we did because of my nieces and nephews. And to be honest my dad would have wanted it. He made us promise in his finally days that no matter what we had to stick together and keep living. Hard, yes, but we are doing it for him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186830 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:49:40 +0000 Boheme 1186830@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sending you love and hugs :heart: I've been thinking about you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186825 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:44:50 +0000 BabyMats 1186825@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: I am so sorry for the loss of your mom. just wanted to send a hug your way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186818 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:41:05 +0000 stargal 1186818@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: I'm so sorry for the loss of your mom. It will be NY second holiday without my mom. She passed away a couple days after Thanksgiving unexpectedly and the holidays are so so hard. She was always the one hosting dinners and loved the holidays and now they feel empty and lost without her.<br /> The one tip I can offer you is try to focus on your lo and focus on it being their first Xmas, thanksgiving to get you through. That's what I did the first year without my mom as it was my sons first holiday. It was hard though. It still unbearbly hard but focusing on p helped me smile a little bit on the holidays.<br /> My heart goes out to you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186787 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:30:01 +0000 Pepper 1186787@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for the kind words/condolences, everyone. &lt;3 I'm sorry for anyone who has a tough time during the holidays. It sounds like there aren't any tricks for getting through it... just waiting for time to pass and heal.</p> <p>@Mrs. High Heels: Yeah :( I updated my one gold thread last week. She took a turn for the worst and never recovered. Less than 3 months after she was diagnosed, if you can believe that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186734 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:12:44 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 1186734@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: I'm so sorry about your mama. ((hugs))</p> <p>Our first holidays without my aunt &amp; nono were hard. My nana even stayed home, so not having her there, either, made it even harder. I wish I had some advice :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186728 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:10:44 +0000 HLK208 1186728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: hugs &lt;3 I've been thinking about you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186594 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:30:44 +0000 MrsF 1186594@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so sorry about your Mom @Pepper: I can see how the holidays would difficult this year. </p> <p>My DH's brother died right before Christmas last year and I'm sort of dreading the holidays this year. It's hard to support DH since he doesn't really like to talk about things. I'm sure it will be a tough holiday season. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186579 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:24:52 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1186579@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so sorry for your loss @Pepper: ... I didn't know she already passed. :heart: </p> <p>The holidays used to be so hard for me after my dad passed away. He was the glue that held our family together, and after his passing my mom, sister, and I started just doing our own things. My mom isn't the maternal, family-oriented type. At least I had my sister though... She was my rock during that time. Thanksgiving was harder than Christmas because Thanksgiving is allll about family and everyone is with their respective families, making the lack of family more magnified from my perspective. </p> <p>Holidays became sweet again after I married DH. His family took me in as their own, and we also started creating our own traditions. It was the beginning of a new family for me in some ways. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186560 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:20:36 +0000 sunny 1186560@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so sorry that your mom won't be here to celebrate this year. Hugs. The holidays are hard for us too but for different reasons. :-( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186556 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:19:38 +0000 Mae 1186556@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so sorry about your mom, I can't imagine how hard that must be. Especially leading up to your LO's first holiday season. </p> <p>I've always been a huge fan of the holidays and I don't think they are "hard" for me-- but they are definitely more stressful since I've been married. It used to just be easy-- go home and spend a week or two with my family. Now we have three families to juggle (my DH's parents are divorced) and I also feel a pull to celebrate in my own home with just my DH. It just makes for a lot of running around thats a bit more stressful than it used to be. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186555 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:19:31 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1186555@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>They are hard for my mom since she lost her mom. And it was/is hard for me as her daughter... I think for awhile her depression over it made me feel like I wasn't... enough? Like she lost her mom, but the family she did have wasn't enough to keep her afloat.<br /> It wasn't until a year had passed that she started getting better and now I think she does enjoy the holidays because she has learned to be thankful for what she has... and she had six children, three children-in-laws and four grandchildren. But it is hard, even as the side-person watching her struggle with the loss. I couldn't imagine life without my mom at this point.</p> <p>I'm so sorry you're going through this :( I hope you can remember to find joy in the holidays, but it is OK to be sad. So let yourself be sad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-the-holidays-hard-for-you#post-1186542 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:15:41 +0000 Pepper 1186542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The holiday season was never hard for me. I loved that time of year so much. Now that my mom passed away, I find myself absolutely dreading them. It will be LO's first Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years... but all I can think about is how much my mom wanted to be here to celebrate with us. Ugh. :( This year they will be the absolute definition of bittersweet. </p> <p>Are the holidays hard for you? How do you deal? </p>