Fresh Books!

The library at Fresh Start’s Phoenix location has just added over 120 books with more on the way!  Many of these were requests from clients and staff, covering Career, Self-Esteem, Empowerment, Self-Discovery, Communication, Spanish Language and Family Law. Click on the book below to visit our website for this month’s staff picks!

Parenting Time Can Be Challenging….

Raising children presents challenges. When parents live in separate homes, the challenges are greater because relationships become more complicated.

Unless special circumstances exist, preserving a healthy and ongoing relationship between children and both parents after divorce or separation is of greatest importance. Positive involvement with both parents furthers the child’s emotional and social development, academic achievement, and overall adjustment. 

Children do best when their parents cooperate with each other. The reverse is also true. Children who experience ongoing conflict between parents are at high risk for suffering serious long‐term emotional problems.    Listed below is some helpful information as described in the Arizona Supreme Court’s Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart.

• CHILDREN BENEFIT WHEN PARENTS:
  • Help the child have regular contact with the other parent by phone, letter, audio and videotapes, e‐mail, and other forms of communication
  • Keep predictable schedules
  • Are on time and have the child ready when it’s time for the child to go with the other parent
  • Exchange the child without arguing
  • Support the child’s relationship with the other parent
  • Let the child carry “important” items such as favorite clothes, toys, and security blankets with them between the parents’ homes
  • Follow similar routines for mealtime, bedtime, and homework time
  • Handle rules and discipline in similar ways
  • Support contact with grandparents, stepparents, and other extended family so the child doesn’t lose these relationships
  • Are flexible so the child can take part in special family celebrations and events
  • Give as much advance notice as possible to the other parent about special occasions or necessary changes to the schedule
  • Provide the other parent with travel dates, destinations, and places where the child and the parent can be reached when on vacation
  • Establish workable and respectful communication with the other parent
  • Plan their vacations around the child’s regularly scheduled activities.

 

• CHILDREN ARE HARMED WHEN PARENTS:
  • Make their child choose between them
  • Question their child about the other parent’s activities or relationships
  • Make promises they don’t keep
  • Drop in and out of the child’s life
  • Are inconsistent in using their parenting time
  • Argue with or put down the other parent in front of the child or where the child can overhear
  • Discuss their personal problems with the child or where the child can overhear
  • Use the child as a messenger, spy, or mediator
  • Stop or interfere with parenting time because child support hasn’t been paid
  • Don’t show respect for each other
  • Undermine the child’s relationship with the other parent.

You can view the complete Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart at http://azcourts.gov/Portals/31/ParentingTime/PPWguidelines.pdf.