Your Ex-Spouse Is Not The Only Difficult Thing About Co-Parenting After Divorce

Being a parent to minor children is hard, whether they are babies, high school students, or anywhere in between.  Divorce is also hard, no matter your age and whether you have children.  It follows, then, that adjusting to a single-parent household is a challenge for everyone, parents and children.  It is easy to focus all your frustration on your ex-spouse, because if your ex had not decided to divorce you or had not cheated, then you would still be a family unit.  It is also easy for your ex to get under your skin because, once you and your children get into a pattern for your time together, it is time to drive them back to your ex’s house, where your ex can instill bad habits in them and your ex’s new partner can treat them unfairly.  Even if you and your ex-spouse are both content with your parenting plan, and if parenting is not one of the issues that drove the two of you apart, being the only parent in the house sometimes and being away from your children at other times is uniquely stressful.  Good communication (sometimes less is more in this department) and a well-crafted parenting plan can make post-divorce parenting.  For help drafting a parenting plan that will make life easier for you, your ex-spouse, and your children, contact a Boca Raton child custody lawyer.

When It Rains, It Pours

In a parenting plan, the children are with you on certain days of the year, and during your parenting time, your ex cannot meddle in your business.  Most parenting plans for school-aged children place the children with one parent on school days, while the other parent is with the children on weekends.  This means that, if your parenting time is during the school work, 100 percent of the responsibility of getting the children ready for school falls to you.  It also means that every homework assignment due between Tuesday and Friday is your responsibility, and so is transporting the children to after school activities.  It also means that, if the children are with you on weekends, you get 100 percent of the blame for weekend boredom, and there are no days of the week when you get to sleep late.

What Are You Going to Do With All That Free Time?

Being on your own with your children for days on end can be exhausting, no matter how much you love your kids.  Meanwhile, once the kids go to your ex-spouse’s house, you are lonelier than you have ever been since before your children were born.  You can use this time to rest, pursue the leisure activities you didn’t have time for before your divorce, or earn income or do housework to free up your time and energy for your parenting time.

Contact Schwartz | White About Taking a Practical Approach to Co-Parenting

A South Florida family law attorney can help you draft a parenting plan that enables you to maintain a strong relationship with your children and keep up with your work obligations.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

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