Happy Holidays For The Children
December 2, 2014
My friend, Jennifer Brandt, a divorce lawyer in Philadelphia, published a blog on “Making The Holidays Happy For Kids During A Divorce.”
Of course, telling parents to “try to set aside their bad feelings toward each other.” and to “think about the holidays from the perspective of the kids (rather than themselves)” is easier said than done. But, that is exactly the point. This is not difficult in theory. When clients ask me how to behave, I sometimes suggest that they simply read the rules in “Everything I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten.” by Robert Fulghum. Those rules include, as I recall, “keep your hands to yourself” and “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.”
All of this is common sense, but emotions often override common sense. On a short term basis, it really doesn’t matter much – all parents make mistakes and yet, not all kids have life long problems as a result.
What is important is that parents remember the long term. One holiday season is just that – one season. There is (hopefully) a lifetime of holidays ahead. Divorcing parents need to be reminded of that and thanks to Jennifer for doing so.
