The 2013 holiday season has come and gone. Though holidays can be joyous, they can also be stressful. As a result, you may have absolutely no interest in thinking about the 2014 holiday season until it is much closer to Thanksgiving. However, now is the time to think about how you and your co-parent may need to plan for and otherwise modify your child custody, visitation, and/or parenting plan agreement for the 2014 holiday season and other important celebrations.

Dates like your children’s birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July are likely important to you and your family. Chances are that you and your co-parent had some tense moments trying to work out details surrounding these dates in 2013. If you and your co-parent plan proactively now for this year’s special occasions, you will be able to enjoy them more fully when they arrive.

When planning, draw upon this past year’s experiences in order to make the coming year’s special occasions less stressful. For example, if you and your co-parent fought over travel arrangements, think about how to split up the travel responsibilities now in ways that make sense for everyone involved. If you eventually need to get your attorney involved in your planning, that is okay. But generally, if you approach these decisions with a spirit of goodwill and compromise, the details will get ironed out without too much hassle.

In addition, consider planning some special time with your kids around holidays that you will not be seeing them on. If your son’s birthday is on March third, but he will be with your co-parent on this date, try to schedule a weekend in March in order to do something special and celebrate. Just because you cannot always be with your kids on special days does not mean that you cannot find creative ways to make other days just as special.

Source: The Huffington Post, “Holiday Not Holidate: Free Yourself From the Calendar to Celebrate With Your Blended or Same-Sex Family,” Colleen Logan, Dec. 23, 2013