The winter holidays offer an opportunity to relax and enjoy time with your family. But they can also be a source of stress for recently-divorced parents who must work out how to spend this precious time with their children. Here are several tips to make planning easier and provide the freedom to enjoy your time together:
- Map out dates and events.
Apart from the dates of specific holidays, when else do you and your children attend get-togethers? For example, your family might hold a Thanksgiving party the Saturday before the actual holiday, or you might always visit your grandmother for Kwanzaa on the weekend after December 26th. Write down both your planned events and your former spouse’s plans to determine when they fall and what visitation arrangements might be needed.
- Decide what to do on the “day of.”
Different families handle holidays differently. For instance, your children might spend the morning with you and the afternoon with their other parent. Or, they might spend the holiday with you in even-numbered years and with their other parent in odd-numbered years. What you do on that day depends on your proximity to the other parent, your respective plans, and what is best for your children.
- Be flexible.
One opportunity that arises from divorce is the chance to create new holiday traditions with your children. While you may want to maintain older traditions, be open to creating new ones as well.
Your experienced Columbia County child custody attorney can help you determine whether these options are right for you. If you have any questions at all about divorce and anything related to it, call Kreisher Marshall & Associates, LLC.
We can be reached at (570) 784-5211.
