This Holiday, Give Your Kids the Best Gift of All

It’s Christmas Eve, and the time of year when families of many different types, cultures and religions gather to celebrate together and share the sense of connectedness that provides us with comfort and a shared sense of humanity.

But with the prevalence of marital separation and divorce, custody and access arrangements, blended families, and other realities of the modern-day family, it is often more challenging to focus that sense of togetherness, and to leave behind – even temporarily – the discord and friction that often permeates the day-to-day life.

In Ontario and indeed everywhere in Canada, the family law system is designed to try to resolve family law conflicts in a manner that focusses on those key concepts and policies that we collectively hold dear and consider paramount;   key amongst those is the policy that family law disputes should be resolved in a manner that optimizes the bests interests of the children who are involved.

This holiday season, I invite all of you parents who are embroiled in family law disputes to adopt that same approach to your plans during the holiday season:   keep the best interests of your children uppermost in everything you do. Put aside your differences temporarily if you can, and make sure that your children know that even if you and your Ex don’t see eye to eye on everything, you are unified in your intent to do the best for them.  That is the best and most meaningful gift you could ever give them.

Happy holidays to all!