It can be hard to figure out a custody schedule that gives you enough parenting time. With a divorce, it means that both you and your ex-spouse will need to work full time. You’ll have to try to get your time in while your children go to school, and then you have to work out how to be there for them when they’re home.
At the same time, you and your ex have to plan how to schedule custody time between you. Making time for your children when they have to travel back and forth, go to school and participate in extracurricular activities is tough. Doing it with a full-time job is even harder.
So, how can you make the time you need to have a good parenting schedule?
There are a few tips that may help. The first is to talk to your employer about working a schedule that overlaps with your child’s school day. For example, if they go to school from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., you may be able to take them to school early or have them stay a little late and still get your eight hours in at work. You could also switch to split shifts or consider working at night, if that will free up more time for you to be there for your child.
Another good tip is to work with your ex-spouse on your schedules. If they work Monday through Thursday, you may want to see if your job would allow you to work more hours from Friday through Sunday. Not all jobs are adaptable in that way, but there could be an opportunity to reduce your hours through the week and make them up later when your children are with the other parent.
A final option would be to bring in a third party to babysit or monitor your children when you’re working. Then, you and your ex can split up the remaining time with your children as equally as you can, so you both have around the same amount of time with them.
Adapting to a new schedule after your divorce may take time, but with these options, it’s possible to do so.