Public Holidays

Public holidays are often overlooked in a parenting plan or parents do not foresee them being a problem, I often hear parents say ‘we will talk about them as they come up’, then sure enough ‘they come up’ quicker than expected and there is no plan, discussion or

agreement which equals unpleasant public holidays for everyone.

In an ideal world (and one day in your future) you will be able to easily negotiate upcoming holidays and long weekends with your co-parent.

However, when first starting to develop your parenting plan together you may overlook what happens on public holidays.

While you’re there in the negotiation space, it is best to unpack and sort out what will happen with upcoming long weekends and holidays such as Australia Day, Labour Day, and other holidays (and pupil-free days for that matter!). If you have the foresight now to discuss this, it is less likely to be an issue in the future, and less likely to cause any conflict which equals happy and relaxed public holidays for everyone!

Some helpful questions to ask in your discussions and negotiations are:

· What happens if it is not your child’s time with you on a long weekend and you would normally pick up on a Sunday?

· What if your co-parent would like to go away for the weekend and have an extra day?

· How do you communicate this?

· What is it likely to look like?

· What if you would normally pick the children up from school on Monday but there is no school? Do you then pick up from your co-parents home? If so what time? If you’re not doing changeovers at each-others house, then where?

· What happens on pupil free days? Are the children dropped off or picked up and the commencement of what would have been the school day or the end?

Remember negotiation's top tip is to ‘give a little to get a little and meet in the middle’!

If you are having trouble meeting in the middle, give us a call to find out how we can help. Happy negotiations!