Sometimes, visitation is difficult. You and your ex-spouse might have to move apart for work, or you may move several cities apart to be closer to family. Your child is most important, but without those supports in place, you don’t think you’d be able to support them as well as you do.
As a result, you do have to travel for an hour or two each time you drop them off or pick them up. It’s tedious, but you want to stick to a schedule where your child sees both parents regularly. You want to make this as easy as possible, though. What can you do?
Consider unique parenting schedules when you live far apart
When you live far apart, it’s a good idea to consider a few unique parenting schedules. For example, it might be difficult to come to visit your child in the middle of the week due to the distance, and it would be unrealistic to make them come to your home when it’s an hour away just to return later than night. Instead, you may want to look into schedules that give you vacation breaks and holidays with your child, while they spend the majority of their time with the other parent during the school year. You may take weekends, for instance, during the school year, then switch so that the other parent has your child on weekends in the summer.
Parenting schedules can also add in visitation time through digital means, like by video calls or through conversations on the telephone. The most important thing to remember is that your child needs to be in touch with both people in some way, even if that means seeing one parent for the majority of the week and having virtual visitation throughout that time.
