Holiday Tips for Divorced Parents

When your family has recently finished a divorce, you may find that the holidays become even more stressful than they would normally be. This can be particularly true for your children who will be learning to cope with celebrating these days with multiple families for the first time. In this blog, our Denver family attorney provides a few valuable tips for families about to go through this new experience for the first time.

Keep Your Kids First

Arguably your most important challenge during the new holidays is helping your kids become comfortable with their new “normal” holiday celebration. This includes giving them a voice in the decisions you make regarding the holidays. Listen to your children—if they have certain desires that are within reason, then be flexible and do your best to accommodate them. Consider their favorite traditions of each holiday and do your best to allow those to continue. Familiarity is a great way to show your children that even though the living situation may have changed, their family situation doesn’t have to.

Coordinate a Schedule

Keeping your kids first will require a good amount of flexibility of both you and your spouse in terms of your schedules. Communication and cooperation are key to maintaining a coordinated schedule. A stable schedule can help give kids an idea of what to expect over the holiday season and who they’ll be seeing and when. Rather than dread the unknown, this gives children the chance to start to look forward to seeing their family members. You can make this schedule as specific or general as you see fit, but be sure to establish one and stick with it.

Don’t Compete

The holidays are not a time to compete with your spouse over your children, and in reality this will only make the experience worse for everybody. Rather than keep your gift plans secret from your spouse, coordinate with them to avoid any duplicate gifts. This can also help set a budgetary constraint that will prevent either of you from breaking the bank over the holidays. Money is usually tight after a divorce, and you definitely don’t want to have to declare bankruptcy as a result of trying to out-do your ex.

It’s also important to teach your children that both of their parents are important to them, and competing usually defeats that message.

If you need assistance with your own family law matter, contact Peek Family Law, LLC today. Attorney Sean Peek understands the importance of quality representation in your divorce case, knowing that the outcome will affect you and your family for many years to come. Whether you need assistance with a divorce, child custody, spousal maintenance, or any other family law issue, let Attorney Peek stand up for your best interests.