Category Archives: Child Custody
Lamentations of a Default Parent
If you are your children’s default parent, you are probably painfully aware of it. You know you are the default parent when your kids are sitting on the couch, watching TV with your spouse, and they call you to bring them a snack. The default parent wipes every nose, schedules every appointment, fills out… Read More »
How to Adjust to Court-Ordered Time Away From Your Children
Parenting feels like a never-ending struggle; it has ruined many marriages that once seemed unbreakable. No matter how much parenting responsibility your spouse takes on, it seems like there is always something for you to do. You are always brushing your children’s hair, picking up their toys, scheduling doctors’ appointments for them, packing their… Read More »
Can Parallel Parenting Help You Keep the Peace After Divorce?
You have heard the horrible stories about parents becoming estranged from their children after divorce, with each parent blaming his or her ex-spouse for the breakdown of the parent-child relationship. You would never do that, at least not intentionally, but keeping the peace with your children and your co-parent is exponentially more difficult when… Read More »
Can Your Parenting Plan Handle Summer Vacation?
Congratulations on making it through a school year of co-parenting with your ex-spouse. You are finally starting to believe what everyone has been saying, namely that co-parenting gets easier as time goes on; you are already feeling confident about the next school year. Being the only adult responsible for supervising homework and transporting children… Read More »
Are Co-Parenting Apps Just a Gimmick?
Text messaging apps such as What’s App are hardly a conduit of family harmony. Even in the case of parents with intact marriages, no one is happier when your daughter texts your family group a piece of vegan propaganda, and your son responds by texting the family group a piece of anti-vegan propaganda. You… Read More »
What Is Bird Nesting, and Can It Work for Your Family?
The most selfish people only think about how divorce and co-parenting will affect them. They think about how much they will miss their children during their ex’s parenting time, and they worry that their ex will undermine their parenting style. If you have enough emotional intelligence, though, you will also think about how co-parenting… Read More »
How to Avoid Letting Your Co-Parent Get Under Your Skin
Some couples divorce after years of a high-conflict relationship. Ever since their oldest child was born, they could not stand to keep it to themselves when the other spouse didn’t dress the baby warmly enough for the weather or waited too long before taking a trash bag full of stinky diapers to the trash… Read More »
Being KIND Is the Key to Successful Co-Parenting, Even When Your Ex Is Acting Like a Jerk
Dealing with difficult people is part of being an adult. Little children get visibly upset whenever their favorite swing on the playground isn’t available, or whenever someone won’t share with them, but growing up means figuring out which of life’s inconveniences are worth fighting about. Likewise, having a successful marriage means knowing when to… Read More »
Different Types of Co-Parenting in Ontario
Ontario law holds that all children have the right to a safe and stable home life. Except in extraordinary circumstances, the courts consider that it is in the children’s best interest to have a close relationship with both of their legal parents, as well as with extended family members. If you are divorced from… Read More »
Overview of the Child’s Best Interests in Ontario Family Law
If you are a parent involved in a divorce, separation, or other legal matter impacting your child, you may already be familiar with the best interests of the child standard. The concept comes from the Canada Divorce Act as opposed to Ontario or provincial laws, and it is applied whenever a court decides child… Read More »