A big, important part of your parenting plan is the child custody schedule. If you are a divorced parent, it is vital that you take the time now to make a really great custody schedule because it will pay off in the long term. This will be the schedule that dictates how much time you spend with your children until they are adults. Here are three tips for making this section of your parenting plan.

1. Determine the custody agreement that works for the parents and the children. There are many different types of custody arrangements you can have, and which one you choose will impact your entire schedule. If you and the childs other parent live close by, it might work really well to have a shared parenting schedule with equal time. If it works better for one parent to have custody of the children and the other parent has visitation, come up with the amount of time the other parent will have visitation.

Its good to get an established, rotating schedule that you can apply to a calendar. Work with the childs other parent to come up with one you both agree on. This can be difficult–but it is definitely worth it. If both parents agree on the custody situation, the parenting plan runs smoother because both uphold it.

2. Be flexible with holidays and school breaks. Once you have your basic rotating schedule (like alternating weeks or one parent having visitation on weekends) you can go through and create your holiday schedule. If you dont have a shared parenting agreement, the parent who doesnt have custody can get some extra time with holidays and school breaks. You can make the holidays as long or short as you want–Thanksgiving can be the full weekend, or the day can be split between the parents. Christmas can be a week or two days. Decide what works best.

You can change the rotating schedule during summer and spring break. A lot of parents want stability during the school year, but here can be more flexibility for the kids during the summer. This can make the arrangement more fair so that both parents are happy.

3. Think about one time or recurring events and calendar them in. Maybe youd like the child to be with you on your birthday but it falls on the other parents time. Create a one time event so that the child can be with you (be sure to grant the same privilege to the other parent). Or, maybe both parents would like to watch the childs soccer games. You can have recurring events during soccer season. You can really make a calendar that is custom to you and your situation.

Creating the custody schedule can be stressful and time consuming. Try to take it one step at a time, and dont rush yourself. Put in the quality time that you need to so you can create your perfect plan. This will pay off in the end because youll have the time you want with your child.

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