Trying on Traditions for Size

Karla Power

Holiday traditions make my heart happy! I love getting together with people in celebration, dressing up and eating yummy food. The only problem is that sometimes my excitement is met with frustration by my child. What should be fun childhood experiences can often lead to overwhelming situations that result in a meltdown.

The exact days that had me popping out of bed in excitement as a child, with me asking “Did Santa come yet?” or waiting at the front door saying “Time to go trick-or-treating!”, are the days that throw my child off. You see, as exciting as these days are, they are not part of the routine that we have come to rely on to keep things calm and predictable for our son.

Over the last two years I have found myself in tears during many festive occasions. At first it was very difficult to wrap my head around the idea that my son’s childhood might be very different than my own childhood was. Before we even had kids, Frank and I talked a lot about our own family traditions, and which ones we would like to pass on to our children. We agreed to try out different traditions with our children, even after Paddy’s diagnosis. We are both firm believers in trying things out to see how they go, rather than avoiding them altogether.