The Importance of a Holiday Parenting Plan

The holiday season is a time of joy and celebration for many families, but for co-parents, it can also be a time of stress and confusion. If you don’t have a holiday parenting plan in place, things can quickly go downhill. A detailed plan will help to keep both parents on the same page, ensure that the children’s schedules are organized and that everyone has a joyful time during this special time of year!

A holiday parenting plan is often referred to as a child custody order and lays out all the important details for holiday time-sharing. This includes celebrations, which parent will have custody on specific days or holiday events, travel arrangements, custody exchanges, and even gift-giving plans. It also includes a communication plan to ensure that both parents are informed and able to discuss any changes or issues that may arise.

A holiday parenting plan can benefit the entire family by creating a concrete plan for how your family will prepare for and enjoy the holiday season.

Having this plan before the holiday season can prevent conflicts and confusion. It also allows both parents to have clear expectations and holiday time to look forward to with their children. If there is a question regarding the child’s time-sharing schedule or holiday arrangements, the parents can refer to the plan before consulting trusted family law attorneys.

While court order enforcement is often not the purpose of creating agreements in your parenting plan, having a concrete holiday time-sharing schedule and parenting plan can be largely helpful if one party is not following active holiday custody agreements. If your holiday parenting plan is not being upheld, you can work with family law attorneys to enforce its terms and ensure that the holiday season goes as smoothly as possible.

Having a holiday parenting plan in place will help keep the holiday schedule organized for both parents and children. This can prevent last-minute changes or conflicts and allows everyone to have a smooth and enjoyable holiday season. Including the schedule in a holiday parenting plan will help protect any special holiday plans each parent might have, so holiday traditions can continue.

Communication is key in any co-parenting relationship, but it becomes even more important during the holiday season. This is a busy time of year, and schedules may need to be adjusted, or holiday events may need to be discussed. It is important to communicate with your co-parent in a respectful and clear manner, especially when it comes to the children’s holiday plans.

In addition, discussing holiday gift-giving plans can help prevent duplicate gifts and ensure that both parents are involved in the holiday celebrations for their children. Children often can notice that one parent gives “bigger” gifts than the others, so by discussing the children’s wish lists, parents can split up the shopping and ensure that the children’s holidays will be extra magical.

If you are a co-parent looking for ways to avoid holiday conflict and confusion, it is important to consider creating a holiday parenting plan. This will help to ensure that the children have a positive holiday experience and that both parents can enjoy this special time of year together with minimal stress or disruption. So why wait?

Start working on your holiday parenting plan today, and take back control of the holiday season! At Fenchel Family Law PC, we can help you create or modify your holiday parenting plan so it is in your child’s best interests this holiday season.

Call us today at (415) 805-9069 to schedule a consultation and get started on a holiday parenting plan that is right for you!