Month: August 2022

Creative Custody Arrangements

There are plenty of creative custody arrangements to explore if you and your ex-partner are having difficulty agreeing on a schedule. While many parents alternate weeks or use mid-week transfers, that doesn’t work for every family. It’s important to find the solution that works for your entire family so that you and your ex can co-parent successfully. Nesting and double-nesting are arrangements that are somewhat unusual but can work in some instances. You can also try different time blocks. Finally, some families decide to schedule around activities or even try to change up their work schedules to make custody changes easier. Finding your groove as co-parents will be easier if you have a custody arrangement that makes everybody happy.

Creative Custody Arrangements: Finding What Works for Your Family

Nesting

Nesting is one of the newer creative custody arrangements that is becoming more and more popular. When couples nest, they keep the children in the family home. The parents then rotate living in the family home with the kids and living on their own. This way, the children’s lives are less disrupted. However, it requires a lot of cooperation between co-parents.

Double-Nesting

Another creative custody arrangement that some couples choose is double-nesting. This is similar to nesting in that the children stay in the same home. However, in this situation, both parents remain in the home and live as roommates. Many have certain areas of the home that are theirs and then share a common space with the kids.

Two-Week or Creative Time Blocks

Creative custody arrangements can also involve switching up the time blocks. There’s no rule that you have to follow 24-hour schedules. Depending on your job, it might make more sense for one parent to take care of the children in the morning and switch with the other each afternoon. You can also stretch out the alternating weeks to alternating every two weeks or whatever works best.

Scheduling Around Activities or Work

Finally, another creative custody arrangement involves planning custody specifically around children’s activities. This is often helpful for families with older children that are spending more and more time in activities or sports. It might be easiest for one parent to have the children more during their sports season, and then swap after the season ends. Some parents also choose to arrange custody based on their work schedules or childcare needs.

Finding which creative custody arrangements work for your family can take a little trial and error. Just don’t feel like you have to follow traditional custody solutions if they don’t work with your family or schedule. Explore other options to find what works best for everybody. You can try nesting or double-nesting if you and your ex are on excellent terms. Or you can get creative with the time blocks of custody. And finally, some families choose to arrange custody based on their work schedules or kids’ activities. It’s important to find the fit that is right for your family so that this difficult time of transition is as easy as possible for everybody.

Long-Term Financial Goals for Your Marriage

There are many potential long-term financial goals for your marriage that you and your spouse should be talking about as soon as you get married. Many couples begin talking about finances before they’re even engaged. Making discussions about money a normal part of your marriage will give you the tool you need to tackle financial ups and downs throughout your marriage. Paying off debt should be top of the list, followed by creating an emergency fund. In addition, many couples want to save for retirement and end-of-life care. And finally, you’ll probably want to set your children up for financial success as well. By working together towards these financial goals, the two of you can keep each other accountable with spending so that you can enjoy the life you want.

Long-Term Financial Goals for Your Marriage: Saving for the Future

Pay Off Debt

One of the most important long-term financial goals for your marriage should be to pay off debt. This might be debt from irresponsible spending, debt from schooling, or many other things. However, the important thing is creating a plan to pay it off. Try to give yourself a set timeline and work backward from there. And try to avoid the blame game, but instead, work together to build healthy spending habits.

Create an Emergency Fund

Another of the long-term financial goals for your marriage might be to create an emergency fund. This is money that you save away in case of medical emergencies, car emergencies, or the loss of a job. Sometimes job losses come out of nowhere and couples that do not have emergency savings are left without many options. Try to save up enough to have three to six months’ worth of income squirreled away.

Save for Retirement

Of course, saving for retirement is one of the long-term financial goals for your marriage. However, it’s also important to remember that retirement isn’t just playing golf and relaxing. You might need to save for medical expenses, care facilities, or even end-of-life care. Funeral expenses alone can cost many thousands of dollars. Try to put all of this in your budget so that these expenses do not fall upon family members. And of course, you’ll want to enjoy yourself too so try to make a plan for budgeting for travel or other fun expenses.

Set Your Children Up for Success

Finally, one of the long-term financial goals for your marriage, if you have children, might be to set them up financially for success. This doesn’t mean giving them a trust fund so they never have to work. However, it might mean paying for their college or a portion of it so that they can avoid student debt. Or saving up to pay for their wedding. Or it might mean investing in some companies or real estate that you’d like to pass down to them eventually.

Creating long-term financial goals for your marriage is a healthy thing for couples to do. You should both have an overall understanding of your financial health as a couple. So making money talks a part of your marriage from early on can be very helpful. Try to work together to pay off debt and create an emergency fund. In addition, begin saving for retirement and end-of-life care early on so that you can enjoy yourself later in life. And finally, many parents want to set their children up for financial success as well. Hopefully, by working together, you can accomplish your financial goals and make your future as bright as possible.

Starting Your First Marriage Counseling Session

Your first marriage counseling session might have you feeling nervous. However, there’s no need to be, because the goal is to help you in your relationship. Some couples choose to speak to marriage counselors when they are navigating difficult situations or when they are fighting. And others make it a part of their routine. Whatever the reason that brings you in, you should know that it can be uncomfortable at times. You’ll have to talk and be honest about your emotions. You might have homework to take home. But it will get easier the more sessions you do with your spouse. You’ll learn to communicate better and will learn all the benefits of therapy in your marriage.

Starting Your First Marriage Counseling Session: What to Expect

It Can Be Awkward

Going into your first marriage counseling session it’s good to know ahead of time that it can be awkward. It can be uncomfortable talking about deeply personal matters with a person that doesn’t know you well. Especially when talking about intimacy, sex, and other details of your love life. Your therapist is very used to it and likely has heard it all before. So don’t be embarrassed to bear it all in your session.

You’ll Have to Talk

Another thing to know when going in for your first marriage counseling session is that you’ll have to be honest about things and talk about emotions. If you typically are a pretty private person, this can be intimidating. But counseling requires some effort from both you and your spouse. Your therapist can’t help you unless they know the full story.

You’ll Have Homework

You might have homework after your first marriage counseling session and after subsequent meetings. It’s very common for therapists to send clients home with activities to do together as a couple. You might be asked to keep a journal, make a list for the next session, or do something outside your meeting with your spouse. It’s difficult to see real change in a marriage just from counseling: you need to practice what you’re learning in your day-to-day life.

It Will Get Easier

Finally, you should know going into your first marriage counseling session that it will get easier and easier. Your counselor will get to know you as a couple, and you’ll become more comfortable sharing. Hopefully, you’ll get to a place where you feel very comfortable discussing your feelings with your therapist.

Your first marriage counseling session doesn’t need to be anything to dread. You might be there just as a way of strengthening an already happy marriage. Or you might be there as a last-ditch effort to prevent divorce. Either way, you should expect the same things. You’ll need to be honest and open about your feelings, and you’ll have to talk during your session. You might have homework to do before your next sessions. It can be awkward for many people at the beginning, but things will get easier as you become more comfortable with your counselor. Hopefully, you and your partner can get a lot of great advice for your marriage and work out any issues in a healthy way.