Se Habla Español | Nous Parlons Français

Blog

You are here:

After divorce, make the holidays stress-free for your kids

On Behalf of | Nov 13, 2015 | Child Custody

The holidays are among the most difficult times for divorced parents. Whether it’s your first holiday season since your break-up or you’ve been dealing with split custody for awhile, there are some important things to remember. The key is to make the holidays fun and stress-free for your kids even if you have to make some concessions to do so.

Some parents spell out the division of time over the holidays in their parenting plan. Others get along well enough to leave things flexible. Regardless of your situation, it’s always best to communicate with your ex about holiday plans sooner rather than later and to ask him/her to do the same.

Whatever your holiday plans involve, it’s important to share pictures and videos with your ex and let them communicate via text, email and phone with their other parent. You want to be part of your children’s experiences, even if from afar. Likely, so does your ex.

When it comes to gifts, it’s best if you and your ex can coordinate. Divide your kids’ wishlists between the two of you. Don’t compete over who can give the most lavish gifts. With larger gifts, why not have them be from the both of you?

Let your kids spend time with their other parent’s relatives. The holidays are about family, and their family includes grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles on the other side as well.

If your ex is not willing to cooperate with any of your wishes or suggestions, don’t complain to your children. This isn’t something with which they are prepared to cope. You don’t want the holidays to become something that they dread. If you feel that changes need to be made to the parenting plan, your Texas family law attorney assist you with making changes so next year’s holidays are more peaceful.

Source: Huffington Post, “8 Tips to Make Holiday Parenting Time Less Stressful,” Daniel Clement, Nov. 05, 2015