Developing a solid parenting plan can take work and flexibility, and holidays can be especially difficult to manage. In many cases, both parents want to spend holiday time with the kids. As you consider your parenting plan, you’ll want to decide how to fairly share important holidays and celebrations with your kids’ other parent.
You can negotiate almost anything you like in terms of holiday sharing, but it is among the things you must include in your parenting plan. Here are six ideas for how to share Halloween:
Alternate the holiday yearly
This is a very common option. You get Halloween this year and your ex gets it next year. This is true whether Halloween occurs on a Wednesday or a Saturday, and it overrules your usual schedule.
Divide up all holidays and split them
The same principle as alternating Halloween can apply to all holidays. You might decide that one parent always gets Halloween and the other always gets Labor Day weekend.
Give the other parent Día de los Muertos or All Saints Day
Whether or not you alternate Halloween annually, you could always say that the parent who does not get Halloween gets to celebrate Día de los Muertos or All Saints Day with the kids. These holidays can share some of the fun of Halloween, like costumes and candy.
Split the time on Halloween
If Halloween falls on a weekend as it does this year, there could be fun to be had during the day as well as after dark. Consider assigning one parent the day and the other parent the night.
Split trick-or-treating time
Especially if you have kids who will be out trick-or-treating for several hours, you could give each parent a shift with the kids. One parent could begin trick-or-treating at sundown and go for an hour and a half, and then the other parent could take over, sharing the fun.
Do it together
Halloween is a very special time. You may not want to miss out on any of it. If that is the case, see if you can negotiate a way to spend the holiday together as a family.
Remember, costume selection is fun, too
It may or may not be part of your official parenting plan, but you should decide together who will get or make the kids’ costumes. Otherwise, this could become a bone of contention.
If you are considering a divorce, deciding how and where your kids will spend holidays is a crucial part of the negotiation process. Try to be fair and focus on your kids’ best interest. The last thing you want to do is ruin the holiday with a parenting dispute.