The holidays are an exciting time for many, but they can be stressful for co-parents. If you're engaged in a child custody arrangement, it can be challenging to balance events like Thanksgiving and Christmas break with your co-parent.
Incorporating specific clauses into your parenting plan and taking certain measures ahead of time can help make the holiday season less difficult for you and your co-parent.
At Lettario & Haug, LLP, we can help you handle your custody battle or order modification case.
Contact us online or via phone at (845) 203-0997 to schedule a consultation with our team.
Discuss Your Schedule for the Holidays
For most parents, their schedule looks different during the holidays than at other times of the year. You may have some time off work or, if you're a seasonal worker, get hit with a heavy workload. Either way, you may need to adjust your custody arrangement to ensure your child receives the care they need.
If you're planning on taking a vacation and want your child to come along, you should also stagger your breaks so your child can enjoy quality time with each of you over the holidays.
Think About Childcare
If your child's not old enough to be home alone during the holidays, you need to think about whether you want to hire a babysitter, have a relative watch them, or utilize a childcare facility.
Whatever you decide, both parents should be on the same page. The last thing you need is conflict during a time that should be celebratory. Asking a relative you know your co-parent doesn't like to watch your child is a recipe for tension, so work together to figure out a way of caring for your child.
Figure Out How to Share Holidays
The actual holidays in and of themselves are a huge source of stress for many co-parents.
When it comes to how you handle the holidays, you have several options. You could try splitting the holidays half-and-half between each parent, having your child spend one holiday with each parent, or celebrate each holiday as a family unit.
Only you can decide what's right for your family. But the sooner you start thinking about the most effective ways to handle the holidays, the better off you'll be.
At Letterio, Shedden & Haug, LLP, we can help you find the best path forward in your child custody case. If you want to modify an existing custody order, we can help you do that, too.
Contact us online or via phone at (845) 203-0997 to schedule a consultation with our team.