Parenting 101

How to survive the holidays as a divorced parent: 5 tips that will help remove the bitter

Divorce attorney Cindy Diggs offers tips on how to best handle holiday stress as a divorced parent.

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While December festivities are meant to rouse feelings of glee and merriment, the polar opposite can be true for families that have experienced any type of loss. Social gatherings can turn from being joyful occasions to reminders of what or who is missing around the dinner table.

Divorced parents know this all too well as navigating family affairs can be stressful on both adults and children. But don't fret: Help is on the way.

"Be the grown up. Don't let on to your children that you're anxious about being alone."

In this short Houston's Voice video, board certified divorce attorney Cindy Diggs of Holmes, Diggs & Eames offers simple lifestyle tips on how to best handle holiday stress. Among Diggs' suggestions is to start new traditions if old habits conflict with the other parent's schedule or if they become too expensive for a single spouse.

"Be the grown up," Diggs says. "Don't let on to your children that you're anxious about being alone so that your children won't worry about you. They have enough to worry about as it is."

Above all, Diggs says to give time over money. Quality time, not pricey gifts, is what will render an occasion memorable.

Watch the video above (or click here) to learn more survival skills so that you and your loved ones make the best of the gift-giving season.

Editor's note: Hidden Houston, an interactive multimedia series, aims to reveal the many things that are unique about the Bayou City and its surrounding areas.

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Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates swipe nearly $2B in packages from Texas homes this year

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

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The Grinch isn't the only one stealing Christmas these days.

’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

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