During the holiday season, the families with the closest ties can start to feel frayed from the stress of events and close quarters. During a divorce, people understandably have a hard time being around the ones they love and can feel as if they are being judged by trusted friends. When both divorce and holidays coincide with one another, coping can be a real challenge. But it is not impossible to keep your chin up.
Here’s a few tips to help you cope with divorce during the holidays:
- Keep it simple: Trying to put together a huge holiday party is work – work you don’t need if you’re already working on a divorce. Any get-together you do plan should be kept small, simple, and include only a handful of your favorite people.
- Giving is better than receiving: An easy way to lift your own spirits and get your mind temporarily off divorce is giving thoughtful gifts to your loved ones. You might even want to take this time to explore charitable options and donate money to those in need.
- Remember your kids: If you share children with your ex-spouse, the holidays are sure to be a tough time. Try your best to remain cooperative and find a good opportunity to let your kids experience the holiday season with both of you, not necessarily at one event, though. What is important is that you do not alienate your ex-spouse, try to hog your children for yourself, or create a gift-giving competition where each parent tries to outshine the other. Also, remember not to do anything that violates your child custody agreement, if it has already been completed.
- Silver and gold traditions: You don’t need to nix all of your old traditions because they remind you of your ex-spouse, but it doesn’t hurt to start new ones, either. Keep doing what made you happy while simultaneously exploring new options with friends and family.
- Create and use a schedule: Set aside some time to create a thorough holiday schedule and do your best to stick to it. This should include when you are going to go shopping, when you’ll see family, when you are going to have some time to yourself, and so on. You’ll find that this acts as an easy transition into reorganizing your life after divorce, which could feasibly feel out of order.
For more help dealing with divorce, you can get all the legal counsel and representation you need right here from the Law Office of Dennis R. Vetrano, Jr., LLC. People all around New York know that our Dutchess County divorce attorneys are second-to-none when it comes to genuinely caring about the wellbeing of our clients. Contact our firm today to speaking with our lawyers during a case evaluation.