The holidays are a time of the year that are meant to be spent with family and loved ones. You may travel to see family members out of state for the holidays as well. Some people on the other hand, may have a split family. Having a split family can be both chaotic and wonderful during the holiday season. This is a sensitive and hard subject to talk about for many people. From experience, I know that having separated parents can be a very difficult thing to have to deal with. Certain things in life happen for a reason, which is why we should always try to find some sort of positive light within the situation. There are definitely some good things that could come out of these situations, such as learning many new important lessons that may help shape you as you get older. If you are in a split family, here are five things that you may relate to especially during the holidays.
1. You may have to travel, A TON
Being in a split family (most of the time) means that you may have to travel back and forth between your mother and father. It can be tiring, but you still love them just the same
2. You celebrate the same holiday multiple times
From my experience with being in a split family, I can tell you that I've celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my birthday multiple times just because my parents are separated. I would celebrate one holiday with my mother, then my mother's parents, then my dad, and then his parents. It can be a pretty busy schedule to keep up with, but I've grown to like it this way because I get to spend more one-on-one time with different parts of my family.
3. Holidays are spent with extended family
If your parents are separated, then one or both of your parents may have gotten remarried. This also goes along with the traveling and having to celebrate holidays more than once. Once they get remarried, that may mean that you spent the holidays with the extended family as well.
4. You may get twice the amount of presents
This is one of the positive sides to having divorced parents. If you celebrate holidays with your mom and dad separately, then that may mean you get double the presents on holidays like Christmas as well as your birthday. Don't forget about the possibility of extended family members also, because that potentially means more gifts.
5. You've become more empathetic
Having divorced parents can be tough, but it doesn't mean that there aren't some good things that can come out of it as well. From experience, I can say that having divorced parents has certainly taught me to be more empathetic when approaching others. I'm now more confident in my ability to empathize with others and their situations. The holidays can be stressful, but I've grown to love the little things that have come out of my situation and I wouldn't have it any other way.
