how it's gonna be

School starts tomorrow and with the new school year comes a new schedule with the kids. We sat down last week with their mom and figured out how to split the time. People often ask me how it works, so I thought I'd explain how we are doing things.

Over the summer, the kids spent one week here, and then one week at their mom's. We usually traded on Saturday or Sunday morning. (We both had afternoon church for awhile. We recently switched to 9 am. Yay!) The kids also usually spent one weeknight at the other parent's house for dinner so they weren't going a whole week without seeing the other parent. And we often had one or more of the kids for a few hours here or there when their mom needed us to. This schedule worked great for the summer. I imagine we'll probably do it like this again next summer.

School changes everything though. Jared and I both have extremely flexible schedules. He is working entirely from home this semester, and I am home unless doing a shoot, which are usually in the evenings or on the weekend. The kids' mom is starting a graduate program and has class 3 days a week so we came up with a plan that will hopefully work well.

Mondays and Tuesdays they are with their mom... always.
Wednesdays and Thursdays they are with us... always.
Friday through Sunday they alternate every other week.

So it works out that they spend 2-5-2-2-5-2 going back and forth. It keeps the schedules for each week day's activities with the same parent. I am optimistic that this schedule will work well. We got the idea from a mediator we met with a couple years ago. It's a good way to do things for parents that live close to each other and have school age children.

I have to say that I think things are going really well over all with the kids. Being a parent (and a step-parent) is never easy but between you and me, it is really nice to get a break every few days. It makes this whole step-parenting thing WAY less overwhelming for me. I think we've all adjusted to our move here very well. School is going to add some more craziness to the mix. But it also means that I always have my days free.

I also must add that Asher simply adores his big sisters and brother. He loves playing with them and is often upset when they leave. They love him too, even though he sometimes messes up their playing. I'm grateful Asher has so many people to watch over him and love him.