By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Timesharing/Visitation on Wednesday, November 25, 2015.
Thanksgiving is a few days away. Before Thanksgiving arrives is the time to resolve timesharing/visitation problems so you can enjoy your turkey dinner with minimum stress for you and your children.
I’ve written about problems and solutions to holiday timesharing before. Here are some good suggestions to make your Thanksgiving visitation battles a little easier:
Alternate. Some families alternate Thanksgiving every other year. If you get the kids for Thanksgiving this year, next year will be the other parent’s turn. Having a regular plan to fall back on can eliminate the potential for what is fair.
Be flexible. An easy Thanksgiving schedule for everyone may require some changes from the normal visitation schedule.
Be respectful. You may not want to be friends anymore, but you need to figure out how to communicate with your ex without all the emotional baggage.
Don’t mix issues. Do not bring up unrelated issues which could make a problem free Thanksgiving dinner impossible. Set aside your differences until after the holiday season.
Pick your battles. Thanksgiving may be more important to you than Easter is to your ex spouse. Don’t fight just for the sake of fighting.
Protect the children. Your children’s memories of Thanksgiving should be about great food and family fun. They should not be forced to witness you and another parent arguing.
Plan. Start talking about the holiday visitation schedule sooner rather than later, the longer you wait the harder it can be.
Thanksgiving can be stressful. But the weather has cooled, kids are on vacation, and work may have slowed too. Try to make it the best time of year.