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For all of you who navigated the often stressful co-parenting waters this holiday season, congratulations! The new year is here and we are all getting back to our more regular schedules. Before you dive into the day-to-day grind, now can be a great time to reflect on the wrapping up of the holiday season and be mindful as you move forward. The lingering emotions and struggles of the holiday season can be slow to fade, resulting in co-parents making a series of mistakes long after the presents have been unwrapped and decorations put away. Here, we will talk about some of the most common co-parenting mistakes made after the holidays and how you can avoid falling into them.
Co-Parenting Mistakes to Avoid After the Holidays
When your kids are splitting their holiday time with a co-parent, it can be all too easy and natural to compare the time they are spending with the co-parent to the time they are spending with you. What holiday events did they go to? Are they forming new traditions with a co-parent? What kind of gifts did they get and love? This line of questioning, however, can drive you to distraction and detract from your own holiday happiness you generate by spending quality time with your children and loved ones. Focus on your own time with your kids and avoid going down the road of endless comparison to others, co-parent included.
Comparison is a common symptom that can arise from having to co-parent and share your children during the holiday season. Resentment is a close companion to this. Resenting having to share your kids over the holidays with your co-parent can easily breed resentment and discontent. This ill-will can make it tempting to say disparaging remarks about your co-parent. Remember, however, that even the most offhand remarks and put-downs can have a significantly negative impact on your children, their relationship with your co-parent, and their relationship with you. Essentially, no one really ends up winning when engaging in this type of behavior. While making such remarks may even feel like a compulsion after a buildup of so much stress and emotion, try your best to refrain from this.
On a more logistical note, one of the biggest mistakes co-parents make after the holidays is failing to seek a consultation with a family law attorney about making updates and changes to a parenting plan. Was your parenting plan unclear on key points about time-sharing over the holidays? Did the logistics of your parenting plan not work out well when executed? Save yourself this stress when the next holiday season rolls around by addressing these things now and updating your parenting plan accordingly.
Florida Family Law Attorneys
At Bernal-Mora & Nickolaou, we are here for you and your family. For all of your co-parenting, child custody and visitation, and family law needs, we are here to help. Contact us today.
