How do successful co-parents deal with the holidays?
With the holiday season quickly approaching, you may be planning a family trip or looking forward to quiet celebrations at home. If you share custody of your kids with a former partner, though, you may have some challenges to navigate. After all, your co-parent probably also wants to spend time with your children.
If you can get some buy-in from your co-parent, you can have a festive, fun and stress-free holiday season. Still, knowing how successful co-parents deal with the holidays can be helpful.
Wait to make travel plans
According to reporting from CBS News, the cost of holiday travel is likely to be almost 40% more than it was just a year ago. While it might be tempting to take advantage of sales, you should wait to make travel plans until after you have reviewed your custody agreement. Indeed, the agreement may place restrictions on where and how you can travel with your children.
Talk to your co-parent
Before telling your kids about your anticipated holiday plans, it is advisable to discuss them with your co-parent, as he or she may have suggestions or even objections to them. While you might not be able to take all of your co-parent’s considerations into account, entertaining the reasonable ones can help to keep conflict in check.
Encourage communication
The holidays are special for many, including your children and your co-parent. Therefore, you might want to encourage your kids to communicate with their other parent during the holidays. A few phone calls, videos or text messages can make a big difference.
Ultimately, though, if think your co-parent would rather ruin your holiday plans than make any effort to go along with them, you might want to understand all your legal options before doing anything else.