Holidays can be a difficult and stressful time for separating/divorcing parents. Parents worry about their children having to be at two different homes during holidays and the impact that this may have upon their children, along with worrying about not spending the whole holiday with their children and/or not seeing them at all on the actual holiday. Below is a list of ideas that may assist you in planning for and feeling a little bit better about upcoming holidays.

• Plan ahead – holidays are stressful. Avoid the stress of planning holiday time at the last minute.
• Listen to your children and include them in the planning around holiday time. Be clear with them about what will be different. Acknowledge with them that change is difficult, but that with change brings new opportunities.
• Create new traditions and memories with your children. Fact – it’s the adults that care about the actual day the holiday falls on. Children only care that it was celebrated.Consider travelling together, doing volunteer work, inviting special people over for a meal, decorating the house together as some of your new traditions.
• Try and maintain some similar traditions in each home, so that it gives your child a sense of consistency.
• As the parent, establish new traditions when your children are not with you, such as spending time with friends, volunteering, travelling, going to a movie, etc.

Happy holidays!

Article courtesy of Connect Family Solutions is a proud member of Collaborative Practice Niagara.