Summer is barreling towards us, and before you know it, school will be over and those teachers you rely on to take care of your children for much of the day will no longer be there. While summer can be a great opportunity to do some fun things with your kids, it can also be challenging due to the extra time you will need to dedicate to them – time that can interrupt your ability to work and do things on your own.
Starting to think about how you will handle the summer now is even more important if you are recently separated or divorced from your child’s other parent. Arrangements that worked in previous years may no longer be viable due to the financial burden of running two separate households or strained communication between you as parents.
We talked in a recent post about the importance of seeking permission if you wish to take the children out of the state or country, such as to visit family or take a vacation. However, that’s not all you need to consider.
Who pays for childcare and summer activities?
If both of you are working, you might need to pay someone to take care of your kids for part of the day. This can soon add up, so it is important to be clear on who pays for it, or how you share the cost. Many parents choose to enroll their kids in summer camp or other programs to keep them entertained and free them as parents to work or do other things.
While this can sometimes work out cheaper than paying someone to exclusively mind your kids, there is still a cost. The timing might not fit perfectly with your work hours or other things you need to do, either. Therefore, you and your co-parent might need to share dropping off and picking up the kids, even on days you are not scheduled to have them.
The best time to think about how you will handle summer parenting is when you are making your custody schedule and parenting plan. Over time, you may find that you need to alter it, or that you reach a point where you and your co-parent have a good enough relationship to just be flexible with it for the benefit of your children. Either way, legal guidance is important to codifying an arrangement.