From our family to yours, we wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
All the best to you and your family,
Scott J. Stadler

Changing Traditions? Follow these tips to make the holidays after a divorce easier:

Anticipate Anxiety: New family traditions can elicit thoughts that something old is being left behind. If families are too anxious to move ahead with new rituals, children may be anxious or upset. Be sure to place emphasis on both old and new traditions.
Engage and enlist help: Have a few ideas formulated before discussing traditions changes with your children. Ask which ones they want to continue and which ones they would like to create. If you engage your kids in options and give them choices, they will be more likely to accept and adjust to the changes.
Accommodate everyone: Some old traditions may not be accepted or applicable in the new family configuration. Accommodate everyone's needs when considering which existing traditions to maintain.
Be patient with the pace: If your child is resistant to change, don't push. Give him time and move at his pace. Older children, in particular, have more memories and may take longer to accept changing traditions. If your child is grieving the loss of his once-intact family, empathize and wait for wounds to heal.
Spell out schedules: If holiday schedules that in involve traditions are going to be radically different, tell your child what you expect so there are no surprises.
Do a trial run: Suggest trying something new for one year and see how it goes. This alleviates having to make a long- term commitment and allows you to alter your decision in the future. Approach it from a positive stance and focus on the newness of what is to come. Consider pulling traditions from another country or culture.