Children and holidays

Stacey Rocha

Examiner.com

The holidays are approaching and this means having to divide the children's time with you and your ex.  In most cases this has been already worked out and on some form of a holiday schedule.  Though if you are in the beginning of the process it may not be this easy.  One thing to keep in mind when disputing this with your ex is that your children were used to family holidays and now they have lost that.  This is not the time to be selfish and only think of your own needs.  Work something out that is in the best of interest of the children.  If your children are older, then consult with them, make sure they have some input on the scheduling.  Again, everyone has been affected by your divorce and everyone has to readjust.

The eight common holidays that come into question when deciding who the children will be with are, New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  One of the most common ways to work out the holiday schedules would be to have one parent have them one year which results in having them four of the eight major holidays and the other parent would get the other four.  Then the next year they would flip flop holidays.  This gives each parent equal holiday time and with different holidays each year to plan for.  Mother's Day and Father's Day are usually split where dad would have them for Father's Day and mom would have them for Mother's Day.  These two days generally do not change.  As far as the holidays that are not as celebrated nationally, but may have been celebrated or there are school closings for, these are usually granted to whoever has the children for that day during the week.  So if your parenting plan has you having the children Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays and the holiday falls during that time, it would be your holiday and your responsibility.   This can also be arranged between you and your ex depending on how good your communication is.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-9030-Omaha-Divorce-Support-Examiner~y2009m6d30-Children-and-holidays