The holiday season and school breaks are supposed to be fun for you and your child, but it can be hard to feel that way when you're struggling with custody issues. Many parents have trouble figuring out a custody schedule that's acceptable and doable for everyone.

Luckily, it doesn't have to continue being a problem. With their vast experience in helping clients with custody arrangements in diverse situations, the Lento Law Firm Family Law Team is ready to reduce your holiday stress with their advice, guidance, and support. To schedule an appointment, call them today at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form.

Why Should You Optimize Custody Scheduling?

Most children want to maintain relationships with both their parents, and that's hard when they don't spend an adequate amount of time with them. They need you to create an effective custody schedule for breaks and holidays.

There's also the matter of your co-parent's legal rights. If you don't make every effort possible to support your child in visiting them, your co-parent could accuse you of violating the custody agreement. The Lento Law Firm can defend you in such cases, but it's easier to avoid them altogether.

Custody Scheduling Tips for the Holidays and School Breaks

Plan Far Ahead

Coordinating multiple people's needs to create a comprehensive and actionable schedule takes a lot of work and preparation. Start communicating with your co-parent about it at least several weeks before the holidays or school breaks begin. Share notes and lists to help you both stay organized and on track.

Minimize Interruptions

Your child likely expects some amount of deviation from their familiar everyday life when holidays and school breaks roll around, but they can still get frustrated or overwhelmed by drastic changes. Reduce their stress by keeping their routines as intact as possible.

Leave Wiggle Room

Anything can happen at any time to mess up your plans. That's why your plan must include backups and/or openings in the schedule to accommodate emergencies and other last-minute changes.

Manage Expectations

Let your child and extended family know about your plans in advance. This will help them prepare accordingly with less stress or confusion.

Split or Extend Time Spent Together

Work schedules and family visits can force some co-parents to miss out on school break activities or holiday celebrations with their children. You can help fix that by figuring out a fair way for your child to split their time between you and their other parent.

As an alternative solution for the holiday season, either you or your co-parent can prolong the fun and festivities by celebrating on days other than the official holidays.

Make New Traditions

Help your child maintain positive associations with school breaks and holidays by creating new traditions with them. It could be something one-on-one or together with your co-parent; either way, your child will handle the custody schedule better if they're making new happy memories with it.

Involve Your Child

Although your child shouldn't be dealing with the brunt of any co-parenting problems, their feelings and opinions should factor into the decisions you make. Talking to them about what they want or need during the breaks and holidays helps ensure that you put them first.

Get More Advice from the Lento Law Firm

These tips are widely applicable to most co-parenting situations, but all relationships and families are unique. Keep these tips in mind, but also reach out to the Lento Law Firm Family Law Team to get more information on how best to navigate custody issues during such a busy time of year. Call them today at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form to make an appointment.