If anyone has the time to look these parts from the original motion and the responses over and give an opinion on which options are the most realistic/fair for mom and dad, I would appreciate it. Try as I might to give him my unbiased opinion (and believe me, my husband doesn't like it most times), I still feel like I tend to take sides and he needs guidance from an uninvolved party. Some of the requests they can agree on, so I won't put them in here.
1. Husband has W/Th/Fr/Sa overnights each week. Mom has kids at 9am/2pm on Sundays (alternating) until Wed. 6pm, then again after school until 6pm on Thursday and Friday because Dad had late work schedule at time of original agreement (he has since been able to change his work hours to allow him to get out early enough to pick them up from school). He's asking for uninterupted parenting time from Wednesday at 6pm until mom picks them up Sunday so that he can actually have time to do homework/have dinner/allow kids time to do extracurriculars and free time without the time constraint (their bedtime is 9pm and they don't actually get home from pickup until 6:30pm). Her response is that he has sufficient/substantial parenting time and that her parenting time would be severely impacted if this were granted. She then goes on to say that she should be allowed every other weekend starting at 9am Friday through 9am Monday. (My bias may be showing here, but if she'd be severely impacted by losing out on 5 hours a week, what about my husband losing between 4 and 6 days and nights a month? Keep in mind, too, he almost always allows her to have the kids on his weekend days if she gives him enough notice for their plans, but she will not reciprocate.)
2. They both agree to change ROFR to 8 hours rather than 2 hours. Existing order allows grandparents (maternal and paternal) 2 overnights per month during their own child's parenting time. Mom wants to lift the limit and allow grandparents unlimited overnights with the kids. Dad thinks limit has worked well for 2 years now, and would like the opportunity for the kids to spend more time with their parents if mom or dad is unavailable to the kids outside the normal grandparents visitation and the ROFR. This only limits overnights absent the parents, not time spent with the grandparents during the parent's designated days.
3. Dad proposed 2 weeks summer vacation to replace 1 week summer vacation for both parents (to be used all at once or in 2 blocks). Also, that both parents give 30 days notice of intent to use time, unless otherwise agreed upon. Mom still only wants 7 days per parent, with 30 days notice and approval of other party ("cannot conflict with other scheduled events").
As a side note, she's tried to inhibit his summer vacation time in the past. He gave 3 months notice that there was a Disney trip planned, 2 months later she finally responded that she had plans with family coming into town and he wasn't allowed to take them. Basically, this would give her free reign to say no to anytime he requested for vacation days for any reason she chooses.
4. Dad wanted to clarify times for Mother's/Father's day and parents and kids' birthdays. CO currently states "children's birthdays shall be spent with Plaintiff in all odd numbered years, with the defendant in all even numbered years" (no times given). Mother's day/Father's day/parent's b-days are from 10am-8pm. Dad suggested 9am -8:30 pm. Mom responded with "Mother's day shall start at 9am" (since mother's day and fathers day fall on Sunday, she's got no real end time since she already has them overnight).
5. Current CO has dad getting Winter break (they alternate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), and mom gets mid-winter break. Mom suggests alternating first and second weeks of winter break, and alternating mid-winter break (not a big deal, sounds fair). Problem is, Dad's Birthday falls during second half of winter break, and he wouldn't be able to see the kids for his birthday if it's her half of the break. Also, she is requesting that if he has the first half of the break, she is allowed to have the kids the first Sunday of his portion of the break for her family Christmas party (which he has always let her have them, at least for half of the day...but, if we were to ever want to visit out of town relatives over Christmas, this would cut a few days out of our travel time).
6. Mom wants written notification of any plans to travel out of state, including dates, times, locations, addresses, phone numbers, and names. (She didn't ask for him to have to have a permission slip signed, though
) She does, however, want the court to require the parent's consent to travel with the kids out of the country (I wish we could afford overseas travel).
7. Mom wants ANY change in domicile approved by her or the court (she caught wind that we were trying to get a bigger house since we've outgrown this one...as it stands, CO states that we only need to notify her of local moves, and only need her permission or court permission outside of 50 miles from current residence. We're looking at moving a maximum of 8 miles further away from mom than we already are, and have been providing the kids' transportation to the school in the mornings even though she's supposed to, so it won't impact her in the least since my husband (or I) does all the driving).
8. Dad asked for children to be able to spend max 5 hours time with half-siblings on their birthday, no response from mom. (just looking for an opinion as to whether that's reasonable or if he should drop it).
I think that's all he was wondering for the parenting plan portion of the motions/response. It ends with a request for motion to be denied and request that the court grant relief requested in Def. paragraph 7. What the heck does that mean? There is no paragraph seven
If you took the time to read all this and still have the energy to respond, it's much appreciated!
