It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been divorced. Spending the holidays away from your kids may become less hard on you over the years, but it still hurts. There are some things that you and your ex can do to make sharing your kids during this holiday season a bit more pain-free for all parties involved though.
While your kids should always be the focus of your attention, it’s even more crucial than they are center stage during the holiday season. Family gatherings and celebrations tend to be occasions that leave lasting impressions on your kids as they grow into adulthood. They should remember joyous occasions in which everyone played nice instead of chaotic, dysfunctional gatherings.
If you’re newly separated or divorced and you and your ex are civil with one another, then it may be helpful for you to find ways to still celebrate these festive occasions together. You and your kids both may find it helpful if you can maintain some semblance of normalcy.
You may want to head over to your in-laws to celebrate family traditions with them as you’ve historically done. You may choose to excuse yourself early to go do your own thing after spending a while there. You must start creating your new traditions after all.
It can be helpful if you slowly integrate your children into your new way of celebrating the holidays. They’ll likely feel less overwhelmed if they’re exposed to their new normal in small bites as opposed to all at once.
Navigating the holidays can be difficult, especially if you or your kids have been subjected to domestic violence and the time that you’ve spent together hasn’t felt very comfortable for a long time. A child custody attorney in Fort Myers can help you in devising an ideal parenting plan that both of you can adhere to during the holiday season and any other time of the year.
