While it may seem hard to fathom, Thanksgiving is now less than a month away and Christmas is rapidly approaching. With these holidays right around the bend, it's important for divorced parents - especially those who share child custody - to stay connected with their children.

According to family experts, the advent of the holiday season can cause children to experience a variety of emotions - both good and bad - and have a multitude of questions.

Today's post, the second in a series, will take a brief look at some tips offered by family experts for guiding children through tough times during the months ahead.

The visual child

If your child's primary sense is visual, family experts advise that they may become obsessive about the appearance of things. In particular, they may experience anxiety about other people knowing about their spending the holidays apart from their mother/father, and may make an attempt to bring both sides of the family together.

Here, family experts recommend that you and your former spouse go out of your way to make all family events friendly, respectful and open to all. Furthermore, they recommend creating a photo album commemorating the holiday (i.e., Thanksgiving 2011) and including pictures from both celebrations.

This simple step can help alleviate anxiety on the part of your child and make them feel more comfortable about spending time apart from the other parent.

The taste/smell child

If your child's primary sense is taste and/or smell, family experts advise that they may be overly emotional during the holidays and that they may also be overly concerned about the feelings of others.

Further complicating the matter, family experts say, is that these children often internalize their own feelings and feel guilty/responsible for the feelings of the parent not involved in the holiday celebration.

Here, family experts recommend that a parent reassures their children that everything is as it should be and that the other parent is enjoying themselves on the holiday as well.

To illustrate, they advise saying "Dad is at a Christmas gathering and can't wait to open presents with you" as opposed to "Dad won't be here this Christmas."

Stay tuned for more from our Phoenix divorce blog ...

If you are currently involved in a child custody dispute or would like more information visitation/fathers' rights, you should strongly consider speaking with an experienced legal professional.

This post is provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Source:

The Kansas City Star, "Child sense: Helping your child deal with divorce during the holiday season" Oct. 31, 2011