If you are anything like me, you are frantically making purchases online for all those people you forgot you had to buy for and trying to remember which socks you bought your Dad last Christmas so to be sure this year, you mix it up.

That is to say, we are running short on time and Christmas is just a hop, skip and a mulled wine away.

So, with the date for filing with the Court long since past and your law firm likely to be closing their doors this Friday, here are some of my last minute tips for parents for this festive season.

Know your Court Orders

Do you have formal Orders in place? Read them. Have a copy to hand if you need so that you can be sure to follow them.

Not sure? Try and catch your lawyer before the office closes and failing that, communicate with the other parent about what you each understand the Orders to mean and how you will implement them.

Talk to each other

No Court Orders? There is very little else that you can do, so, if you can and it is appropriate, talk to the other parent.

Be open, honest and candid with each other about the care arrangements for your children and any changes to those care arrangements. Talking to each other could stop a disagreement before it can arise.

Compromise

So you know your Orders or you have talked and still no resolution? Compromise.

As Mick Jagger, who looks a lot like one of my in-laws after a long Christmas Day, said: 'you can't always get what you want...but...you might get what you need'. I have, of course, rephrased some of this for those Rolling Stones fanatics. But it's true.

Christmas will never be the same after your relationship has broken down. We all want to spend all day with our children on Christmas but things change.

The time may not be when you want it to be. It may not be on Christmas Day. But what your children need is to spend meaningful and quality time with each of their parents during the festive season whatever that time may look like.

Remember Santa doesn't visit you

Every Christmas Eve when I was a kid, I would visit the park with my family. My Grandfather would buy us all long stemmed candles and place them into makeshift Coca-Cola holders* and I would listen and sing along to Bing Crosby as he told me he saw my Mum kissing Santa Claus.

That is a happy memory. Do you have one?

Don't your children deserve the same? Christmas should be about family, indulgence, joy and most importantly, love.

Whatever you feel or think about the other person, they are a parent to your child. Your children's memories of the festive season shouldn't be of you fighting with each other.

Be Santa and give your children the greatest gift of all; a smooth and enjoyable festive season with both parents this Christmas.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.