Tel: 01392 454 940 | Fax: 01392 491 658 help@devonfamilysolutions.co.uk | www.devonfamilysolutions.co.uk Dear %%Full Name%%, With only around 45 days to go before Christmas, we are devoting this newsletter to the popular ‘tips for the holiday season’. If your clients went through the agony of 11th hour negotiations last Christmas, setting up a plan for the coming Christmas now can help to avoid a repeat this year. Everyone will be happier knowing what is coming, and avoiding conflict on the eve of the holidays. Hopefully some of these ideas may help clients and their children to have a memorable Christmas – for all the right reasons! Topic of the Month - Tips for the holiday season Remember the holidays are not all about you - Your children deserve their holidays/celebrations even if you feel cheated out of yours. Encourage them to have a really good time with their other parent, however difficult you may find this.  Get into the spirit of the holidays - Christmas holidays are a time of giving, forgiving, and fresh starts. Turn Scrooge's emotional lessons about holidays past, present, and future into New Year's resolutions about letting go of anger and treasuring all you have - despite all you have lost. Another lesson from Scrooge: Love means far more than money - Your time, attention, and emotional presence are much more important to your children than lavish gifts. You may be short on money but you can be long on love. The holidays are not a competition with your ex or for your children - Teach your children the true meaning of the holidays, not the meaninglessness of materialism. Communicate and coordinate with your children's other parent  - A brief email, phone message, or conversation can ensure that you don’t duplicate presents or plan back-to-back feasts for over-fed and confused children. Ten minutes now can save days of fuming later. (If communicating with your ex takes more than 10 minutes, you are probably getting into issues better left for another time). Keep each other informed of the details - Work out exactly where your children will be during what times, and when, where, and how exchanges will take place. Your children will feel more secure, and all of you will avoid frustration and disappointment. Memories of happy, planned, organised, conflict free Christmas/Easter/Summer holidays will remain with your children long after they have grown up. Try to alternate Christmas if possible - or better still why not have more than one celebration? If you aren’t spending Christmas day with your children, suggest starting a new tradition by having your own special 'Christmas' day on a different date over the holiday period, whereby you get to do all the things you would normally do on the day. Plan in advance with your extended family - Work things out in advance with your own extended family too, whether that means that you refuse some invitations or spend the holidays a little differently than usual, and/or ask for your family’s understanding and help. Establish traditions with your children - Establish new traditions and rituals with your children, particularly ones that could take place on different days. Your children may not remember the details of Christmas’ past, but year-in year-out traditions that they can look forward to, will stay with them for a lifetime.  Adapted from Emery On Divorce – Robert E Emery, Ph.D. Referral Forms If you haven't received a copy of our new referral form, please click the link to download one. The additional information requested will help us to provide a better service to your clients. In particular it is most helpful to have information about any domestic abuse, drug/alcohol or mental health issues, as this helps us to make an accurate assessment of whether mediation is likely to be suitable in each case. Directions Situated directly opposite King William Street car park in Longbrook Street, just a few minutes walk from Exeter City Centre and close to transport links Click for map Contact Details Suite 3 First Floor, Hampton House, 23 Longbrook Street, Exeter, EX4 6AB Tel: 01392 454 940 | Fax: 01392 491 658 help@devonfamilysolutions.co.uk | www.devonfamilysolutions.co.uk If you have received this email in error, please accept our apologies. If you do not wish to receive further emails please click unsubscribe