The hardest part of any custody plan is creating it. Keeping your children at the forefront of any parenting plan is very important. This includes prioritizing them for vacations, holidays, summer and school breaks.
One of the goals of a custody plan is to maximize the time your child spends with each parent.
Fairness
When navigating breaks in your parenting and custody plan, ensure it is fair to you and your ex-spouse. Although it might seem as though you are giving up time, a fair arrangement of breaks will ultimately help your child.
Alternate
By alternating breaks and vacations, your child will receive the benefits of all of the holidays with each parent. Try to avoid breaking up things like summer and time off from school since it can detract from your child’s experience.
Check-in
Make sure to check in early when planning a vacation for yourself and your children. This ensures proper notice. Also, try to agree to a time limit for notifying each other of plans. For example: if you plan on taking the kids to Europe for the summer, agree to notify your ex-spouse two months in advance. This ensures that plans will not overlap, causing tension and other issues.
Involve your children
Be sure to ask your children how they feel about spending time with each party. For instance, you should ask them if they want to spend a particular holiday with a particular parent. This assumes your children are old enough to have input.
It would be best if you outlined all vacation and school break provisions in your custody plan to ensure everything goes smoothly.