How to Help Children of Divorce Feel Connected During the Holiday

The holidays are known as a time with family and making memories. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to spend the holidays with everyone they love. When children have parents that live in different states, one parent that travels for work, or a parent that is overseas, the holidays can be a hard time to feel connected. I was incredibly thankful to get to work with CloudPets™ to help gather some simple tips on how to help children of divorce feel more connected during the holidays.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CloudPets™

As many of you know, we are a blended family. What this means, is my two boys spend time with their father in another state for chunks of time, and then live with me hundreds of miles from their father the rest of the year. They have acclimated to this big life change quite well, however the holidays are a time that remind us all that we aren’t with everyone we love.

While I am talking about children of divorce, these tips could work for all of the difficult situations I already described.

How to Help Children of Divorce Feel Connected During the Holidays

{Even when parents live in different states}

Keep a Journal | Starting at a very young age, I kept a journal with my boys that traveled with them when they were gone. Each day they were with me, they could write to their father about one thing that happened during their day. Then when they went out of town, they would do the same at his house. This was a simple way to stay connected and have a conversation starter when they got home of awesome memories they built while they were away and helps reduce separation anxiety.

Photo Albums | One thing that we often forget as adults when other children are involved, is how these children feel being separated from their siblings when they are in another state. For my boys, they missed their baby sister’s very first Christmas when she was only 6 months old. One thing that really helped was making specialized photo albums for each boy. We included their favorite pictures of them with their sister and other pictures of their home, their family and their friends. They carried these back and forth to each house for almost two years.

Schedule Facetime Calls| There is nothing like getting to see your child’s face and them getting to see you while they are away for the holidays. By setting a schedule ahead of time with the other parent, you assure that things will not get lost in the hustle and bustle of holiday activities. This is the perfect time to share holiday moments and we mark these special calls on our command center.

Shared Traditions | If your family celebrates with Elf, Santa, Stockings, Advent Calendars, St. Nicholas or anything of the sorts, you can work out a way to have this tradition continue at the other house. This requires some agreement between the parents, but it is such a delight for children to see their favorite holiday icon appear at their other house! It definitely eases the pain and helps children feel more connected when they have to split the holidays.

Transitional Items | Having certain stuffed animals (like aCloudPets™ stuffed animal) as something that travels with your child can be extremely helpful in helping children cope with long distance blended families. My middle son loves stuffed animals and has a special bear he takes with him to both houses. Sometimes I even add a secret note that he can read while he is gone.

How Cloud Pets Can Help Children Of Divorce Feel Connected During the Holidays

In short, CloudPets™ is a Message You Can Hug™. Up until now you have been able to journal, send letters, and even send text messages to your children when you are far away. Now with CloudPets™, your children can literally hug your message!

Your child’s special CloudPets™ stuffed animal can send and receive messages using a mobile device, making it easy for your child to still hear your voice when you are not around. Not only can they hear your voice, they can reply and send messages directly to your phone.

CloudPets™ are more than just a toy and a stuffed animal. They are a way to connect with their loved ones anywhere in the world. We all know how lonely it can feel when your loved ones aren’t near. CloudPets has found a simple solution…they turned these wonderful cuddly toys into an app where your kids can access a huge collection of fun and games. There are so many fun ways your child can play today!

There are 4 main features to CloudPets™:

• Messaging – With Messaging, you can send & receive Messages You Can Hug™ from anywhere in the world.
• Games – With Games, little ones will keep their minds MOOOOving with the first ever CloudPets™ Game, Barnyard Sounds!
• Lullabies – With Lullabies, bedtime just got easier—and cuter—than ever before! Now you can send your kiddos to dream in the clouds to the sweet sounds of lullabies.
• Stories – With Stories, story time has never been so snuggly! The whole family can listen along to tales of fun and adventure falling from the sky.

How do Cloud Pets Keep Your Kids Connected?

CloudPets™ works with most smartphones. Specifically, CloudPets™ work with iPhone and Android devices with BluetoothLE 4.0. In addition, CloudPets™ has built-in security and parents can choose who can send messages to the child’s CloudPet™, and has the ability to approve every message sent.

Doesn’t this sound like an added way to help your child stay connected during the holidays?

CloudPets™ retail for $29.99 and comes in a variety of animals including a bear, puppy, kitty, bunny, and unicorn. They are available for purchase at CloudPets.com, Amazon, WalMart, ToysRus, and Target. com (which offers free shipping to active duty military families).

Tell me, how do you help your child feel connected during the holidays when they are separated by miles from their loved ones?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CloudPets™.

For More Adventures in Blended Parenting