Parenting Blog

by Dianna Nelsun

Shared parenting is an arrangement that divorced parents use so that both parents participate in equal amounts in raising the children. It can be a great solution for parents who want to be part of their children’s lives. It also allows the child to develop good relationships with both parents after a divorce.

Shared parenting, also referred to as shared custody or joint custody, offers a lot of flexibility for scheduling options for the parents. Because of this, and because parents need to be creative about sharing the time with the children between them, creating a custody schedule can be a lot of work.

Because parents who have joint custody need a schedule that gives both parents equal time with the children, they can run into complications. There are the standard shared custody schedules: parents alternating weeks, or alternating every two weeks or every other month. But these only work if the parents live close to each other and the child’s school schedule can remain constant.

There are solutions when children need more stability during school year and the parents don’t live close enough to switch custody that often. The easiest thing to do is to make a schedule where one parent has the majority of custody time during the school year–then make up the time the other parent lacks in other places. There are several options where the parents can make up the time.

The most obvious time to change the custody schedule is during the summer months when the children are out of school. The parent who has less time with the children during the school year can have a lot more time during the summer. The schedules of the parents can pretty much switch.

The custody schedule can be changed when the children have other breaks in school as well. The parent who has less time with the children during the school year can get more time during winter and spring breaks. School holidays can also let the parent with less time extend a weekend or add some visitation.

All of this scheduling can get complicated. Because of this, many parents turn to computer programs to help them sort things out. This can be beneficial because a program will let you set up different schedules and tells the percentage of time that each parent has with the children. Then you can create something very fair.

Shared parenting is a great way for parents to both participate in raising their children. There are many ways to create a shared parenting schedule and parents should work until they find a schedule that fits their needs. Once this is done they can relax and enjoy their parenting.

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