So we're doing every other holiday right now but my daughter asked why she couldn't have Christmas morning with both of us this year. It crushed me man. The custody agreement doesn't really have flexibility and both me and my ex new partners are involved so it's complicated. Anyone figure out a good solution for this without going back to court?
We do every other but honestly some years we just both showed up for the kids' sake. Christmas and birthdays hit different. You might need to make an exception on those even if it means adjusting something else in the schedule.
Man that's a hard conversation to have with your daughter. At some point the 50/50 split on holidays doesn't work emotionally. You might need to sit down with her mom and figure out a solution that lets your daughter have a real Christmas experience with both of you somehow.
The every other system is tough when your kid is old enough to understand what's happening. Have you tried splitting Christmas? Like Christmas Eve with one parent and Christmas Day with the other? That way she gets both holidays kind of.
This is the tough one. Every other holiday is already a compromise but I get why she wants both parents at Christmas. Maybe alternate which parent does Christmas morning and which does the evening celebration? Lets her see both of you on the big day.
Man, this is tough. We do alternating holidays too but my kids definitely have preferences. Have you considered doing Christmas Eve with one parent and Christmas Day with the other? That way she gets both celebrations just split up. It helped with mine.
Have you thought about doing like a split day situation? We do Christmas morning at one house and dinner at the other. Takes more coordination but the kids get both parents. Might be worth proposing to her mom.
Yeah the every other year thing is rough on the kids emotionally. When my daughter asked why she couldn't have both parents on her birthday I realized that some traditions are worth bending the rules for. Worth a conversation with the other parent.
This is the hardest part of co-parenting honestly. My daughter always wants both holidays and it kills me that I can't give her that. We've started doing our own family tradition on the off year so she still feels special but it doesn't fix the core issue.
Have you talked to your ex about maybe splitting the day instead of the year? Like you get morning, they get afternoon? My daughter gets to celebrate with both of us and honestly it takes pressure off trying to make one day perfect.
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The every other year thing is brutal. We ended up doing holidays together for the big ones even though we're not together anymore. Sounds weird but Christmas morning with both parents present meant everything to my kids. Worth the awkwardness.