When you celebrate a holiday, you may want all of your loved ones at home to celebrate with you. However, if you share custody with your child’s other parent, you will likely need to navigate how you will co-parent during this time. What can you do to co-parent more effectively during the holidays?
1. Split your time as evenly as possible.
Holidays are an important time for your family, and it is also important that your child spends time with both parents. This may involve alternating years when you have custody on each holiday, trading off so that one parent has Thanksgiving and the other Christmas or splitting the day so that you both have time on the holiday itself. You may also want to address whether you can travel with your child for the holidays and how you will handle visitation or check-in calls during that time.
2. Plan for holiday shopping.
The holidays can bring up a variety of financial questions. How much are you and your child’s other parent allowed to spend on your child’s gifts? Can those gifts include tablets, smart phones or other technology? If your child is old enough to get gifts for friends and family, which parent will pay for the purchase of those gifts, if necessary? Discussing these questions with your child’s other parent can prevent overspending or conflict over holiday budgets. As Forbes notes, you may also want to coordinate to avoid duplicating gifts.
3. Address the holidays when you create a parenting plan.
The holiday season will change your schedule every year, and the best way to avoid conflict or challenging negotiations is to have a clear plan in place from the start. No matter what arrangement works best for your child, your parenting plan can outline that solution and help you focus on enjoying the holidays with your family.
