Most families are very busy during the summer months. While the children aren’t in school, they may participate in summer camps and enjoy family vacations. If you’re facing the first summer as a co-parent, there are a few things that you should think about.
One of the most important steps for you to take is to review your parenting plan to determine what restrictions and notification requirements are present for summer vacations. These may include limits on where you can take your children or how far in advance you have to let your co-parent know about your plans.
Remain as flexible as possible
The dates of a family vacation might not always fall in line with the parenting time schedule. If you and your ex can both be flexible about adjusting parenting time, the children are the ones who will likely benefit because they get time with both parents and they can also enjoy making vacation memories.
Plan for communication during vacation
Your children will likely want to talk to their other parent while they’re on vacation. This is probably easier to deal with if the children have their own devices and can use that for texts, phone calls and other methods. If you have younger children, you may need to plan the communication between them and your ex.
Making sure you understand the terms of your parenting plan is important so you don’t violate any of them. If you’re just now embarking on the process of getting your plan set, it’s best to work with someone who can assist you in determining what points should be included and how to handle the challenges that come with co-parenting.
