As the end of school draws near, children begin to anticipate days of leisure and fun activities. The excitement begins with young children having parties and end of the year activities while older children begin to study for final exams and choosing electives for the next year.
Summer is always an anticipated time for children to enjoy having a break from school without homework in the evenings and freedom to rest and enjoy fun activities. The summer after a parent’s divorce should be no different than any other summer. It should remain an enjoyable time filled with memory making with each parent.
During divorce parents are often overwhelmed as to the changes divorce brings and time away from school may be one of the changes that your family has had or will experience because of your divorce. Maybe you were a stay at home parent or had family nearby who assisted when the children were out of school but moving to another city will change all available means for child care. Questions as to how to divide custody may or may not have been addressed therefore, there may be a temporary order stating what is in place until a final order of decree has been established.
There are many adjustments caused by divorce that must be made when children are involved in a marriage and one important adjustment is child care. If family members do not live near, finding alternative methods for child care is required. In many areas there are several camps that offer child care and inquiring of the local high school or church for teens that offer child care may solve child care issues. Often times, babysitters are certified in CPR and other life saving techniques. Many cities will have daycare centers or community centers that will offer summer programs that will usually offer hours during work your work schedule.
Vacation is also anticipated during summer. Through my experience, I have heard one parent state that he/she could not compete financially with the other parent to offer wonderful vacation opportunities for the children. Also I have heard children state that they enjoy nice trips but as long as they can spend time with their parents and have their undivided attention. The summer vacation does not need to be too lavish. Searching for activities, site seeing activities and amusement parks/activities within driving distances may be the answer. One thought to ponder is if you would like to have an itinerary from the other spouse when the children will be on vacation with them. This will allow for you, the other parent, to have needed information should an emergency arise. An itinerary would often provide the name and address of the hotel, dates of travel and if air travel is involved, it would state the flight number and times, the date that the vacation is to begin and end including all destinations provided.
How to divide custody visitation time with the other parent for the children while school is out for the summer must be contemplated. There are many choices when it comes to division of time but both parents work schedule and the availability must be considered. Choosing a set routine for custody will aid if there is child care involved especially if only one parent needs to seek child care assistance.
After divorce, often times due to custody arrangements, children are required to “miss out” on childhood activities such as summer camps that are offered by churches, schools, extracurricular activities that are offered to enhance skills, and many others. Children did not ask for parents to divorce and making sure they do not miss opportunity to enjoy childhood activities is a must. Parents must work together to ensure each parent receives the allotted visitation time but not to the point that children miss out on childhood activities in order to meet the demands of parents having equal visitation time. Work together for the best interest of your children to ensure the memory making of summer camps and other programs that many children enjoy.
Make summer time enjoyable without the hassle of school and also the anxiety of the parent’s divorce. Without the added stress of homework, schedule an activity that you and the children will enjoy at least three times during the week. You may desire to search for ideas on the internet for ways to spend time or activities with your kids. A few suggestions may include a late afternoon picnic at the local park to feed the ducks and swing or if older children are involved, late unexpected trips to the ice cream shop for a banana split. Use your imagination, building rock gardens together, scrapbooking, attending one concert or even taking an art class together may be just the ticket.
This is the time to explore ways to spend time with your children this summer while laying stress of the divorce aside and taking time to spend with them. If you do not plan the time and make a commitment of at least two to three activities a week, you may be missing out on memories. Planning is the ticket! Life may be different this summer due to the divorce but rather than allowing the divorce to take a summer “away” take control by planning ahead for all of the details that must be met due to meeting the needs of the summer and how to not only provide a physical but also a mental vacation from the divorce.
Divorce Tool Box understands the challenges of needing divorce help through the transition of divorce. We understand if not careful, divorce will often rob you of time and additional worry. Allow divorce tool box to assist you when divorcing to make sure that you are prepared for life after divorce. Visit our website at www.divorcetoolbox.online today.
