Co-Parenting
During the Holidays
It ’ s hard to believe we ’ re approaching the fall and winter holiday season . For families of divorce , this time of year often presents challenges . As a collaborative divorce attorney and licensed mediator , I have a professional perspective on how to balance co-parenting during the holidays . As a divorcee , wife , mother , and stepmother , I have a personal perspective on it too . I know how difficult it can be to not only create a shared parenting agreement that works for everyone , but doing it with a positive outlook while your children are away from you during the holiday season .
For my family , co-parenting has been an adventure over the years . My husband and I have five children together . Two are my biological children ( Ellie , 21 and Buchanan , 18 ) with my ex-husband and three are his biological children ( Kase , 20 ; Jake , 18 ; and Walker , 16 ) with his ex-wife . Through two separate parenting agreements we ’ ve experienced co-parenting through various ages . When our agreements started approximately 11 years ago , our youngest , Walker , was just five years old . Now , our oldest , Ellie , is in her early 20s .
Ahead of the holidays , my husband and I communicate with our parenting partners when it comes to gift giving so we don ’ t duplicate gifts . This is especially important when you have younger children who write lists for Santa . I think it ’ s important to recognize that no two homes are alike . Rather than seeing it as a frustration or competition , it should be celebrated . The fact that our children get to experience different traditions at various homes is exciting . My husband and I want to make sure our children know that it ’ s okay to want to go to another home that isn ’ t ours , and it ’ s more than okay to have fun while they ’ re there .
Our children have their parents and stepparents all living in the Charlotte area . Because of that , we ’ ve have been