5 Ways to Approach the Holidays Mid-Divorce
The holidays are stressful enough. However, adding the extra tension of a looming or current divorce process can easily create a truly unpleasant holiday season for a family.
If you are in the middle of a divorce or know you’ll be serving papers to your spouse before the holidays hit, this year will definitely feel different.
Here are 5 ways you can approach the holidays that leave the door open for enjoyment while keeping a positive outlook on future seasons after you’ve finalized your divorce.
Don’t Block Out Happiness
Yes, your divorce has the potential to eclipse a lot of the joy you usually feel during the holidays. However, time with loving friends, close family, and your children can still bring the opportunity for happiness and laughter at this time of the year.
If you need to be sad, we say follow your emotions. However, if happiness comes knocking at the door to your heart, don’t let your divorce refuse its entry. After all, a little holiday joy can go a long way towards relieving the tension you may have from the ongoing divorce proceedings.
Take Yourself Out of the Usual Traditions
If you and your future ex-spouse aren’t on good terms at all, it may be time to step away from the usual holiday traditions you used to have together.
Go on a trip, visit distant relatives, or plan your own holiday traditions with friends that can be a turning point in your own personal growth during your divorce.
Embrace the New Normal of the Holidays
If you have children, this is also a great time to start looking ahead and planning out how future holidays may work between you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse.
Explain to younger children that it’s okay to spend time between homes for the holidays and that you’re always happy with the holiday events that you share together. Once again, start new traditions for the holidays, and if you and your spouse are on decent terms, practice co-parenting this season and find out what works best for you and even more importantly, your children.
Schedule Some Time to Help Others
The holidays are a time for giving back to loved ones and others who are less fortunate. Amidst the rush of property division decisions and tense negotiations, take a moment to step back, get grounded, and help someone out this season.
Whether you help with a toy drive, assist an elderly family member, or cook for a friend in need, moving the focus from your divorce to assisting others can help you get into the holiday spirit and bring some positivity into this darker time in your life.
Don’t Compete
If you’re in the middle of a divorce, this may be the last holiday season you spend with your spouse and children under the same roof. No matter what you and your spouse are going through with the divorce, make sure that your children know that they are loved equally by both parents. Cooperate with each other when the kids are around but remember, you don’t have to be the best of friends.
Trying to out-do each other with gifts and separate outings may seem like a great time in the heat of the moment, but in the long run, it could send off mixed messages to your children and start an unnecessary game of favoritism that no one wins.
Enter the New Year With a New Chapter From Nilsson Legal Group
If you are getting ready to enter the storm of a divorce, don’t face the process alone. Let our Fort Worth family law practice help you navigate the many obstacles that could muddy the waters.
From negotiations, to help with drafting child custody agreements, and addressing property division, Nilsson Legal Group can help ensure that your divorce ends with results that land in your favor.
Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.