Being a parent is hard work, but your kids are not the hardest part of parenting. Cleaning up messes and de-escalating tantrums takes a lot of effort, but you can recharge once your kids go to bed, and when you look at them, all you can see are slightly bigger versions of the innocent babies you first brought home from the hospital. When you think about it, it is obvious that your kids appreciate you. It is the other adults that erode your self-esteem with their constant criticism and unsolicited advice. The worst is when your ex-spouse finds fault with everything you do during your parenting time. Former spouses should cultivate a co-parenting relationship based on mutual respect and on the children’s best interests, but that is more feasible in some families than in others. If you are on bad terms with your ex, a parenting plan at least enables you to set boundaries. If mundane issues such as how long children can stay home alone are causing conflict between you and your ex-spouse, contact a Clintwood family law attorney.
What Does Virginia Law Say About Children Staying Home Alone?
Virginia law does not have specific rules about how long children can stay home without an adult at what age. Some counties set specific guidelines, but Dickenson County and Washington County leave it to the parents to decide when children are old enough to stay home alone. Most people do not go to court and modify their parenting plans every time there is a slight change to their work schedules or their children’s school schedules. For example, you might have started a new job, and now you get home from work an hour after the school bus drops off your children. Your ex-spouse thinks that your children are too young to stay home by themselves for an hour.
There are possible solutions to this problem. For example, you can enroll your children in after-school childcare, but this would require you to pick them up instead of them taking the bus. You and your ex would have to agree on how to divide the cost of after-school care. Another solution would be to have the children stay at a neighbor’s house until you get home if you have a neighbor who is willing to babysit. Likewise, an extended family member could meet your children at the bus stop if you have a family member who lives nearby.
How Much is it Your Ex-Spouse’s Business What Happens During Your Parenting Time?
In most divorce cases, the parents agree to the terms of the parenting plan during mediation; the case does not go to trial, and the judge is not the one who decides which parent gets which days of parenting time. If one parent is not providing adequate supervision during their parenting time, the other parent has the right to petition the court to modify the parenting time, but judges know the difference between child neglect and ex-spouses trying to micromanage each other.
Contact Greg Baker, Attorneys at Law PLLC About Co-Parenting Struggles
The lawyers at Greg Baker Attorneys at Law PLLC serve the southwestern Virginia community in co-parenting cases and other areas of the law. Contact Greg Baker Attorneys at Law PLLC in Clintwood, Virginia, to set up a consultation.
Sources
https://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/division/dfs/cps/intro_page/publications/general/alone.pdf