Split Holidays, Shared Hearts: Navigating Co-Parenting Through the Holiday Season

Navigating the holidays across two homes is a lot — schedules, feelings, traditions, extended family, and the pressure to “make it magical” for your kids. If you’re parenting after separation or divorce, this episode is for you. 💛

Today we’re talking about how to make the holidays gentler for your kids and for you — without overexplaining, oversharing, or over-functioning.

In this episode, we dig into:

• 🗓️ Holiday schedules that kids can actually understandVisual calendars, color-coding, and how to keep both homes on the same page so kids feel grounded instead of confused.

• 😊 Making room for mixed feelingsHow to respond when your child is happy and missing their other parent at the same time — without taking it personally or shutting it down.

• 🎄 Traditions that can travel between homesSimple rituals (like ornaments, pajamas, game nights, Elf on the Shelf, etc.) that help kids feel like “one family, two homes” instead of two separate lives.

• 🧠 Protecting kids from adult stressWhy your sadness, grief, or loneliness around the holidays is valid — and why your kids are not the ones who should be carrying it.

• ⏳ Letting go of “making up for lost time”Why kids don’t count overnights the way adults do, and how chasing “fair” time can actually increase stress for everyone.

• 👵 Extended family & the confused relative factorHow to explain the schedule ahead of time, ask for support, and set boundaries with kindness so your kids aren’t caught in the middle.

  
  

  This episode is for you if…

  • You’re co-parenting after separation or divorce and the holidays feel complicated.

  • You’re worried your kids will feel torn, guilty, or responsible for everyone’s feelings.

  • You’re feeling lonely or raw about sharing time and don’t want that to spill onto your kids.

• • You want concrete ideas (not just platitudes) for making this season calmer and more connected.

  Timestamps

  (approximate – feel free to adjust for your final edit)

  0:00 – Welcome & why holidays across two homes feel so tender
  1:40 – Holiday schedules: helping kids understand the plan
  4:20 – Visual calendars & keeping both homes consistent
  7:10 – First holidays after separation vs. a few years in
  8:40 – Holding space for “happy here AND missing the other parent”
  10:40 – Why it stings as a parent (and what to do with your own grief)
  12:15 – Traditions that can travel between homes
  18:10 – Adult stress, loneliness & getting your own support
  22:40 – “I want to model coping” vs. oversharing with kids
  27:50 – The pressure to “make up for lost time” & counting overnights
  32:40 – Talking to extended family & protecting kids from side commentary

  
  

  #parenting #coparenting #holidaymagic #gentleparenting #parentingskills