Looking back and looking forward

Are you loving or loathing the lead up to Christmas and the year end?

I’m finding there are SO many things to consider with this extended family of mine, made up of me, my daughter and her dad; my partner (of 3 years, who lives 400 miles north of London, in Scotland) his 2 children and their mum; my parents, grandparents, siblings and their children; my partner’s parents, grandparent, sister and her family – we’re just about coordinated in what’s going on, where, when and with whom. And then there’s the gift buying (on a budget!) …which is mildly doing my head in – thank goodness for the internet!

To be fair, I actually love this holiday season. I’m not that fussed about receiving gifts (there’s a fine line for me between ‘love it, keep it’ and ‘not relevant, ditch it’), but I adore spending time with family and seeing my daughter laugh and play with her cousins and friends.

My daughter’s dad and I have alternate Christmases with her. This is his year so my daughter will be away 5 full days from Christmas Eve. Bit of a heart wrench – but I’m getting better at doing extended amounts of time away from her, even at special family times like this.

I’ve noticed that my mindset is very different this year compared to 6 years ago on the first Christmas my ex had our daughter. What a challenging year that was – a learning curve for us all. Since then, I’ve learned some new skills, worked out what works best for us all and have applied it for increasingly peaceful results. This process has been applied in so many situations with my daughter and my ex that I’ve written my Feature Article on it this month: 7 Smart Tips for Single Parenting Christmas Success.

Have a wonderful finale to 2008 and a prosperous, peaceful and exciting look forward to 2009 (and get yourself onto our Silver Success Circle list – see below – for ongoing goal setting and goal getting for the upcoming 12 months!).