Ep #177: Creating Calm and Stability During Co-Parenting Holidays (Encore)
Dec 24, 2025
The holidays after divorce can feel heavy, emotional, and overwhelming — and I know that personally. In this encore episode, I talk about how we can create more calm, stability, and intention during the holiday season, even when co-parenting feels challenging.
I share why waiting until conflict shows up is often too late, and how choosing growth, compassion, and preparation before the holidays arrive can completely change how we experience them. I open up about my own grief around holiday expectations, how I’ve learned to hold sadness and gratitude at the same time, and why being intentional about how we want to feel matters more than being right.
This conversation is about slowing down, getting specific, and deciding how we want to show up—for ourselves and for our children. When we take care of ourselves first, we have more patience, energy, and love to give.
Takeaways:
- How to reduce reactivity during co-parenting holidays
- Why preparation matters more than perfection
- Holding grief and gratitude at the same time
- Modeling emotional maturity for your children
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or stuck in repeating patterns, I invite you to reach out for a clarity call. You don’t have to navigate this alone. https://calendly.com/coachwithmikki/co-parent-breakthrough-call
Download the Episode Transcript Here
Full Episode Transcript:
Welcome to Co-Parenting with Confidence, a podcast for courageous moms who want to move past the conflict and frustration of divorce and show up as the mom they truly want to be. My name is Mikki Gardner. I’m a certified life and conscious parenting coach with my own personal dose of co-parenting experience.
Throughout my co-parenting journey, I’ve learned to become confident in who I am as a woman and a mother, and I’m here to help you do the same. If you’re ready to learn what it takes to become a great co-parent and an amazing example to your children, let’s dive into today’s episode.
If you’re listening to this as it drops, the holidays are approaching. And if you’re anything like me, post-divorce holidays can be hit or miss. Today I want to talk about how we create more stability, calm, presence, and joy during the holidays—even after divorce.
Navigating co-parenting during the holidays can feel like a minefield of emotions and expectations. There’s the stress, the transitions, the gift-giving, the guilt—and I get it. What I want to offer you today are tools to help you move through this season without living in reaction.
This is about prioritizing your personal growth so you can model emotional maturity for your children. It starts with compassion and collaboration, even when you’re triggered. And that’s why we can’t wait until the conflict happens to decide to do it differently.
We have to decide in advance how we want to feel, how we want to show up, and what we need to support ourselves. I’ve had to grieve what holidays no longer look like for me, while also creating new traditions and holding gratitude alongside that grief.
Both things can exist at once. That’s emotional maturity. And when we get intentional—specific about what we want and how we’ll get there—we start breaking old cycles.
This work isn’t always easy to do alone. That’s why I offer coaching support—to walk alongside you as you build calm, confidence, and clarity in your co-parenting journey.
If you’re ready to change the trajectory of what’s ahead, I invite you to reach out and book a breakthrough call with me. You don’t have to navigate this alone.
Thank you for being here, and I’m sending you so much love and support this holiday season and beyond.
