Creating Successful Parenting Plans
Creating a successful parenting plan is the goal of any parent who is in the process of making a plan. The difference between a mediocre plan and one that really fits the needs of the children is in the extra provisions and plans that the parents include. Here are some of the issues to discuss and include in your plan to make it truly successful.
Transportation for Visits
To really make a good plan, you must figure out how you and the other parent will handle transporting the children to and from visitation. There are many solutions to this, and you need to figure out what works best for your situation. You need to decide how the child will get to and from visits, and how you and the other parent will share the expense of transporting the child. Some possible ideas include: both parents meeting halfway for exchanges, each parent dropping the child off at the other parent’s house before and after visits, one parent driving and the other paying for gas and cost, etc. This can get even more complicated if one parent lives out of state.
Communicating About the Child
You and the other parent need to develop a system so you can share information about the child. This simply has to be done if both parents are to be on the same page. You should never have the child deliver messages to the parents–the parents should speak directly to each other. Parents can set up a weekly meeting, call each other, email, send letters, etc. It is best to work out an easy system for both parents and put it right in the plan.
Special Events
Every child has special events that come in school or otherwise. You and the other parent need to figure out how you will handle these. Will both parents attend back to school night? What about the family picnic for the baseball team? Parents can choose to divide up the activities, or set up a way to decide which parent will go as the activities come up.
Scheduling Other Contact
You need to make some guidelines about each parent contacting the children. In general, it is best if the children have frequent contact with both parents. This means that when the child goes for a visit, the other parent can call at bedtime to say goodnight. Or, the parent who doesn’t live with the children can call regularly and send emails. It is helpful for both parents to talk about this issue so they both know what to expect and so neither parent feels like the other parent is intruding.
These are just some of the guidelines for an successful parenting plan template. You can also think about any areas that have caused trouble or conflict in the past and think of a way to resolve the problem in the plan. This should help your plan work out best for your child.
