Overcoming Holiday Overwhelm Workshop

Holidays are “supposed” to be joyful… but what if it’s not your year with the kids? What if everyone else is posting matching PJs and family photos — and you’re staring at a quiet house, a custody schedule, and a knot of anxiety in your chest?

You’re not broken. You’re not behind.

Holidays after divorce are different.
This workshop is a soft, judgment-free space to name that out loud and learn how to move from holiday anxiety → holiday intention.

What we’ll do (60 minutes):

• Land + calm (5 min): quick grounding for “this is not how I pictured it”
• Teach (10–15 min): Alone vs. Lonely — why quiet can help you… and when it starts to hurt
• Guided writing (15–20 min): prompts to process “not my turn with the kids”
• Practical tools (10 min): 3 things to do on the actual day so you don’t spiral
• Share (optional): witnessed, not fixed
• Plan (5 min): create your Holiday Support Plan for this year

You’ll leave with:

• A 3-part Holiday Coping Plan (body • mind • connection)
• 3 go-to lines for when people ask, “So… do you have the kids this year?”
• A Lonely-Day Menu (things to do when you wake up to a quiet house)
• A reminder that you are not the only mom spending Christmas Eve without kids this year

This is for you if:

• You’re divorced / divorcing / co-parenting
• You don’t have the kids for a holiday and it stings
• You feel anxious about being alone while everyone else is posting “perfect”
• You want to turn the day into something nurturing — not just something to “get through”

What to bring:
Journal or paper, pen, water/tea, and a comfy spot. Camera optional. Come exactly as you are.

Host:
I’m Marilee Grace, creator of Divorced: From Survivor to Thriver and the voice behind @rightswipegirl. I’ve had the “quiet holidays.” I know the ache — and I know we can make them gentler.

Cost: 44

Where: Online (Zoom) — RSVP on Meetup to get the link

Please: If you can’t attend, cancel so another woman can take your seat.

You don’t have to white-knuckle the holidays. Come write it through with us.