There are times when a marriage doesn’t go as planned. When this happens, it’s always ideal to have parents come to their agreement so they can focus on the best interests of their child.
Family Relationships Online, an Australian Government initiative, says that creating a joint custody parenting schedule with your former partner is crucial to giving your child a chance to adjust to having divorced parents. And while an experienced lawyer will help you with the entire process centers around dividing custody responsibilities, creating a schedule is a way to show your child that both of you are willing to work together for his or her sake. So, here are a few pointers to help you with the process to help you create a custody parenting schedule.
Consider your kid’s situation
Traveling from one home to another can be physically and emotionally draining. You need to adjust from two different houses at a time, especially when both your parents have entirely different living arrangements.
So, before you make any decisions about your custody parenting schedule, it’s best to put yourself in your child’s shoes. Think about their everyday life whenever they go from you and your former partner’s house. Consider the things that they might miss out on and the things that they’ll gain. Then, consider minimizing any disruptions with their lifestyle as much as possible.
Think about the logistics
If you’re planning to share a generous amount of time with your child, it’s crucial that live near one another so that the transportation will be much easier for everyone. If you have a child going to school, you also need to consider bussing to and from both houses.
It would help if you also considered both of your logistics’ childcare service providers’ availability that you and your former partner trust. If you have kids who grew up with a babysitter, it only makes sense that you don’t disrupt their relationship because of your parenting schedule. Doing so helps reduce the amount of change that your child will experience.
Consider your child’s schedule
It’s not only your lifestyles that’ll get affected by all the changes. Your child will go through the same process, too. So, if your child needs to stay after school on particular days of the week, you need to keep that in mind when you’re planning your schedule. Keep in mind that schools encourage their students to join extracurricular and seasonal activities. So, it would be best if you considered these things when creating a custody parent schedule.
For instance, if you know that your child is active in baseball and needs to attend the practice twice a week, you need to ensure that you include that with your plans so that you won’t disrupt it. You don’t want to create a schedule that causes your child to withdraw from his or her favorite activity. Doing so will only affect your child’s ability to adapt to his or her new lifestyle setting.
Consider whether your child needs to get involved
You also need to ensure that you give your child to add his or her input as you create a schedule that’ll benefit everyone. Indeed, if your kids are very young, it’s not suitable to ask for their opinion about the parenting schedule. Meanwhile, if your child is older, then you can consider having an open conversation with him or her to know their preferences.
These are only a few of the things you need to consider when planning a custody parent schedule. It’s always best to find a way to collaborate with your former partner to determine what’s best for your child.