Mother's Day and Divorce

How to make Mother’s Day about the kids, and not about the divorce!

Mother’s Day can be a challenge when a couple separates through divorce or dissolution.  Whether you are recently separated, contemplating divorce, currently going through a divorce, or are happily divorced and remarried, challenges can arise in many ways. Memories of Mother’s Day past while you were together, like the first one, can be painful.  However, the most important thing to remember is that it can also be painful for your children, but it doesn’t have to be.

If you are divorced, and have shared parenting, most shared parenting plans give the day to mom, and Father’s Day to dad.  If you are mom, you look forward to the extra time you get to spend with your kids.  Plan a special meal or other activities just for you and your children.  Try to show your children that even though you are not celebrating as a family with dad, that you are still a family, and you value and cherish their love and attention.

If you are dad, enjoy the extra you time you receive on Sunday, if you don’t usually have a Sunday to yourself.  Prior to your children’s time with mom, help your kids make something special for mom.  Even if you and mom do not get along, and you may not have a kind word to say to your ex, remember your children still love and need their mother.  Be the bigger person and try to make the day special for your children.  Whether it is to help them make a card, or pick out a present, showing them it is okay to love their mom is good for their overall emotional health.  Children need to know both parents love them unconditionally, even when they love the other parent in front of you.

A welcome side effect of encouraging your children’s love for the other parent can include better communication with your ex, favorable treatment by the court, and better behavior from your children.  Remember, Mother’s Day is a day to put moms first, celebrate their love for their children, and a child’s love for their mother.  If you are divorcing, but your children’s needs first and let them celebrate their mother.  Put moms first on Mother’s Day, and on Father’s Day it will be dads turn.

Contact Ohio Divorce Attorney, Jamie L. Anderson for a free in-office or telephone consultation, (937)879-9542.