With the many festivities underway from shopping to holiday parties to family gatherings, the holiday season is often a stressful time of the year. If you are separated or divorced, managing your child custody or co-parenting schedule during this time of year can make it even more difficult.
There are several things you will have to navigate when you are in separate households, such as:
- Scheduling
- Meeting the expectations of extended family
- Lingering tensions
- Trying to spend as much time as possible with your children
Just because you are separated or divorced does not automatically mean the holidays have to be a tumultuous time. With proper planning and by setting clear expectations early on, this time of the year can be managed.
3 Co-Parenting Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday
Below are a few healthy holiday co-parenting tips to help reduce stress for you and your children and best navigate co-parenting during the holiday season.
#1: Create a Holiday Co-Parenting Plan
Florida parenting plans many times contain specfic provisions for holiday time sharing. However, you may have created that plan when the kids were younger, and they may have aged out of it, as their needs have changed. Also, circumstances in a particular holiday season (visiting relatives, travel plans, etc.) may cause two parents to agree to a temporary modification.
You may need to make a few adjustments to your co-parenting holiday schedule to best accommodate all parties involved. You can revise your holiday parenting plan with the help of a qualified attorney who can help modify the schedule or help you create one if you don’t have a plan already in place.
#2: Communicate About Gift Giving
It can be easy to slip into a habit of giving your children excessive amounts of gifts, trying to make up for what you feel they have lost. However, you should try not to go overboard with the gift-giving because it may seem like you are trying to compete with your co-parent for your child’s affection.
Both co-parents should make an effort to clearly communicate about gift-giving and relay these boundaries to both sets of in-laws, too. Boundaries may include:
- The number of gifts to give
- Any money limits
- Items that are off-limits (phones, gaming systems, etc.)
#3: Be Flexible
Holiday celebrations are meant for spending time with your family, which can trigger unexpected feelings after a separation or divorce that haven’t surfaced in a while. You and/or your children may have an urge to act out or begin feeling lost—especially if it is the first holiday after separating.
Acknowledging that things are different and remaining flexible with your co-parent can be exponentially beneficial for all parties involved.
Your kids are likely not getting to do exactly what they want and neither are you or your co-parent. But it is important to be flexible and make compromises to make it a more pleasant holiday for everyone now and in the long run.
Stress-Free Holiday Co-Parenting
Co-parenting during the holidays is often challenging, and navigating this time can be difficult. However, with the proper advance planning, you and your children can still enjoy the holidays stress-free.
At Apfelbaum Law, we provide a variety of legal services throughout the Treasure Coast of Florida, including divorce and family law legal services. Contact us today to learn how we can help create a holiday co-parenting plan for yours and your family’s unique needs.
