On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Child Custody on Monday, November 23, 2015.
Thanksgiving is this Thursday, which means the holiday season is officially upon us. If you have recently gone through divorce in the past year, you may not be looking forward to the holidays as much as prior years. In fact, you may be dreading the season, especially if you won’t be able to spend as much time with your children as you would like.
Luckily, there is a lot of advice available out there on not just surviving the holidays after a divorce, but making the most out of them. We will discuss a few of the best tips here in this post.
New traditions. An article found in the Huffington Post suggested starting new traditions. Part of the reason the holidays can feel so sad after a divorce is because you probably aren’t doing the same traditions with the same people that you have in previous years. Instead of mourning what has been lost or changed, the article advised starting new traditions for your “new” life.
Planning ahead. An article from CNN stressed the importance of getting a plan in place in advance. Hopefully, you and your ex have already established which parent the kids will be spending each of the upcoming winter holidays with. Oftentimes, these details are sorted out as part of the child custody arrangement. Everyone, including the children, tend to do better with change when they know what to expect ahead of time.
Avoiding conflict. An article from WebMD also has good advice, this time for parents who are deciding whether to have a joint holiday celebration with their children and their exes. The article advised that if the parents can get along, a joint gathering with the kids may be a great idea. However, if there is any chance that a conflict will erupt, then it is better to celebrate separately.
Hopefully, these three tips are effective at helping you to transition into the upcoming holiday season with ease. Remember to talk to your divorce lawyer if you are unsure of what your child custody agreement states about which holidays you get with your children or specifics like who is in charge of transporting the children back and forth.
