Holidays are a very difficult time if you are newly divorced or living apart from your child. But it doesn’t have to be. In the 16 years that I have practiced family law, I have yet to see a case that I was involved in that did not eventually find some viable, if not happy medium. Really. But I constantly harp on my clients to work on their co-parenting. And one area that we really push is for shared holiday time.
Why should you care? Because happy kids are secure kids. And kids that face holiday fights are neither happy, nor secure.
Most of our parenting plans’ holiday sections starts with the language that the parties hope to spend to holidays together. . . And this is post-divorce! Holidays are really all about the kids and this is one solution to passing the kids back on forth on Christmas Day.
If you cannot spend the holiday together, and don’t worry, many cannot, then make your own holiday. If your co-parent has the kids on Christmas Day, then make December 26th your Christmas. Again if Christmas is all about the kids, then what difference does it make?
So, with Halloween coming up as the next holiday, make a difference in your children’s lives. You take the kids to the mall on Saturday while your co-parent takes them trick or treating on Monday. Or take the Monday trick-or-treating plunge together and see what a difference it can make in your children’s security.