With Easter over, many parents’ minds will be turning to the summer vacations. Maybe you want to go away, or perhaps you are just wondering how you will keep the children cared for and occupied while still holding down a job.
If you are about to divorce, this will complicate things further. However, with appropriate preparation, you can make the first summer apart as successful as possible for everyone.
1. Coordinate time off work with your co-parent
You may not get much time off work, but by coordinating with your co-parent, you can double the total amount of time available to look after the kids. You could take the first two weeks off work and your co-parent the final two. This frees the other parent to concentrate on work.
2. Make use of summer activities
Depending on where you live and your children’s age, options will be available for kids during the holidays. That could be sending them to summer camp or dropping them at a local activity club two mornings a week.
3. Coordinate with friends and family
Maybe you could have your daughter’s friends over a couple of times a week to play, and she could go to her friend’s house a couple of times a week. Or perhaps it’s time to send the kids to visit Grandma for a couple of weeks in the country.
4. Get permission for overseas travel ahead of time
If you fancy taking the kids abroad, you will need written permission from your co-parent otherwise the border authorities won’t let your child out of the country. Allow time to do this in advance.
Thinking about all this while making your parenting agreement during the divorce is best.