Deborah Gray (one of my heroes) has written a great resource:
Holiday Help for Your Family
[note: I apologize for the broken link! I think it is fixed now.]
Deborah has so much wisdom and when I saw this handout, I knew it would benefit some of you, maybe even most of you.
My favorite tip is, “Anxious children like to know what their part is in any new event.”
This is very true with my little ones. If she gets too anxious, Dimples will literally say, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.” Our children who have suffered trauma need us to guide them and show them just what they can do in a new situation. Sometimes they miss the point, and don’t know when an event is just plain fun, because they are so busy scanning the situation trying to figure out their role and what is going to happen next.
I hope you find some tips from Deborah that make your holiday season a little bit happier for you and your children. As with Karyn Purvis‘ book, which I mentioned earlier this week, Deborah’s books are two of my most used resources. They sit on my desk next to The Connected Child: Bring hope and healing to your adoptive family
~Lisa
Lisa, the link to the handout doesn't seem to be working… I'd love to read it, though.
That was awesome, thank you! Some great info as usual! ;o)
I just began scanning the handout, and I realized that I fit the description of the traumatized kid better than my kids do. Then I realized that I do have my own "traumatic" events regarding their adoptions that happened during the holiday season, and I'm having my own anniversary stress. Thank you for posting so that I could figure this out. =)