Having divorced parents brings a new dynamic to the holiday season and family traditions. Some choose to split Christmas Eve and Christmas day between each parent, others only spend the two days with one parent. Yet the situations and factors that children of divorced parents have to deal with can vary greatly.
Families make the arrangements that need to be made about where you will be going, who you will be spending what day with and what times are best for everyone.
For Senior Kirstin Landefeld, Christmas break is spent with her mother who was remarried 10 years ago. Landefeld has a distant relationship with her father and rarely sees him the day of Christmas.
“My dad and I kind of just say, ‘Hey Merry Christmas’ through text and maybe see each other the next week to exchange gifts,” Landefeld said.
While Landefeld stays around for the holiday season and has a routine with one parent, my situation is vastly different.
My parents divorced when I was 2, before I could even understand what it was like to have a “traditional family” Christmas.
My memory is fuzzy on how the first couple of christmases went, but I do remember when I was twelve, my split Christmas was bumped up to an extreme.
Not only had my mom moved to Florida, but she also remarried.
Since I was 12, every other year during the first weekend of winter break I’m boarded onto a Southwest Airline plane all by myself in the early morning while my peers are sleeping in.
For most people, winter break is a time to relax and recoup before heading back to school.
For me, it’s a time of stress.
I have to worry about packing, making sure I’m at the airport and through security a half hour early. I have to waste two hours in a Baltimore airport all alone and sit in a plane for a collective six hours.
For two weeks, I enjoy family time in Florida, but since my mom has been remarried, a whole new element to the family christmas is introduced: The step-family Christmas.
That awkward “we’re not related and we only see each other once every two years” type of get-together.
Of course they’re friendly, but it’s still awkward because you really don’t know each other well. Christmas is a time for family and you’re the “outsider.” You don’t have that connection or familiarity that they all share.
Then, as break comes to an end, it’s back to that pre-flight stress and having just one or two days to readjust before heading back to school.
Christmas break is seen as a time for relaxation, joy and family time but it’s not like that for everyone. For some people it’s stressful and overwhelming.
