How to Adjust to Court-Ordered Time Away From Your Children

Parenting feels like a never-ending struggle; it has ruined many marriages that once seemed unbreakable. No matter how much parenting responsibility your spouse takes on, it seems like there is always something for you to do. You are always brushing your children’s hair, picking up their toys, scheduling doctors’ appointments for them, packing their lunches for school or summer camp, transporting them with you on your errands and trying to grocery shop while they run wild, and responding to their constant questions and demands, even as you try to sleep. The only thing worse than doing all of this is not doing it. You would be devastated if, for several days or even several weeks, you had little or no contact with your children, because this is what the court ordered. This is the reality that divorced parents live, though. If you divorce when your children are minors, the court issues a parenting plan. Pursuant to this parenting plan, on any given night of the year, your children are with you or with your ex-spouse, not both. This is harder to deal with than it sounds, at least in the beginning. To find out more about what it is like to co-parent your children with your former spouse, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.

Rock On With Your Alone Time

The first time your children go to spend the weekend or part of the Christmas holiday with your ex-spouse, you will probably be lonely and miss them intensely. Soon, though, you will adjust to a new routine where, between the time your ex picks up your children and when you joyously reunite with them, you make the most of your free time. You might spend the time working or studying in ways that advance your career, reconnecting with friends with whom you had lost touch because of the constant demands of parenting, or just getting some much-needed rest.

Give Your Ex-Spouse a Chance to Step Up

Co-parenting in accordance with a parenting plan can give you a break from the constant struggles that eventually tanked your marriage. You and your ex might have constantly micromanaged each other during your marriage, but it is not possible to do that when a court order has clearly delineated whose parenting time is whose. When your children are with your ex, it is her decision, and not yours, what the children eat for breakfast, what time they go to bed, and which video games they are allowed to play. With a parenting plan to establish boundaries, you may find that you and your ex-spouse trust each other more and get along better than when you were married.

Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Co-Parenting After Divorce

A family lawyer can help you draft a parenting time that will enable you to manage your responsibilities of work and parenting, while keeping the peace with your ex-spouse.  Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.

Source:

scarymommy.com/parenting/an-unexpected-upside-of-divorce-scheduled-alone-time