3 Reasons to Love Summer Possession Time After Divorce

If you are a divorced parent or have temporary orders in a divorce that is pending you likely have an order that has some kind of extended summer time with your kids.  If you have Standard Possession no matter what type of conservator you are you have the option to have your kids for longer than normal time.  If you have a parenting plan that is a little different you probably have something that gives you a bigger chunk of time with your kids.  Some folks prefer to do something else, but most have some kind of special summer time.

I encourage parents to use that time, if they can.  And, I am a little biased because personally, I love summer.  Yes, I love a Texas summer – I really do.  But, there are other reasons too.

1- Long, summer days

Summer possession is different from other times of the year.  There are no Thursday nights.  There is no homework.  And, there are countless reasons and ways to try something new and make some memories with your kids that you can’t do during the school year.  You can stay up late without worrying about getting everybody up early the next morning to head back to school or back to the other parent.  You can stay up late and go to a drive-in movie or play Monopoly for 3 straight days.  You have the chance to get out of the rut of the school year and have some fun.

2 – You get to Choose

If you have Standard Possession, you get to choose when you want to have your time.  You need to give notice by the deadlines in your divorce decree in the spring, but you get to choose based on your schedule.  And, if you’re the possessory conservator and you forgot to give your notice, you still get your time, but the State of Texas decided for you (hint: the month of July) so read your decree.

If you’re the managing conservator you get to choose time also.  It just works a little differently in Standard Possession.  You choose the time when the other parent won’t have a normal weekend – so you get a block of time that way.  And, you get another weekend during the other parent’s time also – read your decree for the details and notice deadlines to be sure you know what your decree says.

3 – Time Flies

As the old saying goes, there is no time like the present.  Don’t wait until you have the perfect summer planned.  Just take the time and spend it with your kids.  Throw water balloons, run through sprinklers, go to a Rangers game.  That’s what summer is for!

Jill O’Connell