It may always seem like the Halloween candy and decorations are out too soon in the stores. However, if this will be your child’s first Halloween since your separation or divorce, you may feel especially unprepared to think about it.
While Halloween may not have been on your list of holidays to negotiate parenting time around, it’s a big one for young kids. So how do you and your co-parent work out a way to share in Halloween festivities with your child?
Halloween isn’t just one night
For better or worse, you can find Halloween celebrations over the course of days and maybe even weeks at school, church and around the neighborhood. Iowa does corn mazes like no other state. There should be no shortage of ways for you and your co-parent to share in this holiday with your child. It doesn’t even have to involve an outside event. There’s always decorating, choosing a costume and pumpkin carving to be done.
Trick-or-treating, of course, is the big event. You might decide to each take your child out separately for part of the evening or perhaps even go together with them. It might be easier on everyone to let them go out with friends and be chaperoned by another parent.
What does your child want?
Before you and your co-parent go too far down the road of who gets to do what with your child, ask them what they’d like. Kids whose parents are divorcing often feel like no one considers their feelings. This is something that they should be able to have a say in – even if it’s a matter of choosing from several options you present them.
Remember that the number of years a child wants their parents involved in their Halloween plans is finite. Enjoy them while you can. You may even want to include some provisions in your parenting plan to cover Halloween if you’ve got a few more of those years ahead of you.
