Christmas

We asked some We Are Family members and volunteers to share their thoughts, insights and tips about managing this time of year, and helping the whole family to have a ‘good’ Christmas. Whilst we know all children and families are different, we hope that you might find some food for thought, support, a different perspective, or space to reflect on these ideas.

We haven’t heard much of the birth family lately. Although our Christmas was difficult (thank God it’s over), it felt pretty ‘normal’, unlike previous years where the ghosts of Christmases past have definitely been stalking our rooms, clanking their chains and scaring the bejeezus out of us.

Children generally seem to like knowing what’s going to happen and what they’re going to be doing next. It’s reassuring knowledge that takes away some of their uncertainty and helps quieten their anxieties.

But for our children, it can be much more than that. The changes and lack of structure in their early lives can give them a dread of the unknown. The anxiety can be overpowering; the need to know can be desperate.

A little more time.
My parcel under the tree would be – an extra 4 hours at the end of the day. A gift to my partner, but one that I know I would benefit from too.

A Friend

That would be my Christmas gift for under the tree – if there were no limits and if anything was possible, that is what I would buy our son.