This is the 18th edition of “Parenting Alone in Chicago.” A series of articles I publish that help provide ideas and details for single parents when they exercise their parenting time after a divorce or separation. Sometimes, when looking for a place for your younger children to play, it makes more sense, especially for parents…
The Parenting Plan When two parents are no longer living together, they must come to an arrangement regarding the time each parent will spend with the children. Hopefully, the parents can come to an agreement without the help of lawyers or the courts. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In any case before a…
This is number 13 in my series of things to do with kids if and when you’re parenting alone. Whether you are divorced, separated or just alone for the day with the kids, I hope these posts can be a guide of things to do with your kids in a city that is not too…
30% of American adults don’t drink at all. Another 30% have less than one drink a week. The top 10% of drinking Americans drink an average of 73.85 drinks a week. The second decile of drinkers (20% to 10%) drink 15.3 drinks a week which can be a lot but probably does not affect their…
This is part 2 in my series, Parenting Alone In Chicago. Whether you’re divorced, separated, or just have the kids for the weekend. I hope that I can help you plan some quality time that your kids and you will always remember as you learn to parent alone. Doing stuff with the kids in Chicago…
This article will be the first in a series of articles I will write about advice on how to parent in Chicago alone. Whether you’re divorced, separated or just have the kids alone for a weekend, constructive activities are an important way to turn your time with your children into quality time. You want to…
New relationships of your ex can always be full of concern. You find yourself dealing with a third-party who has not been vetted and someone who your ex has selected. While many significant others are harmless, in some instances, they can have a criminal past. This becomes especially concerning if they are classified as a…
This situation is extremely common for Chicago’s firemen, police, and hospital workers. Typically, some kind of letter is required from your employer outlining the conditions of your employment including the scheduling arrangement. If your schedule is truly in constant flux, most parenting agreements include a notice provision to accommodate parenting time for the parent with…
If there is no previous Cook County court order you can file a Motion To Enter an Allocation of Parenting Responsibilities and Parenting Time. The court will consider what parenting time (formerly called visitation) you should be awarded based on the best interests of the child. In the case of modifying an existing order, I…
For years, Illinois statutes referred to decision making for the children of separated parents as “custody” and the time spent with the children by the non-primary parent as “visitation”. As of January 1, 2016, the Illinois state legislature changed all the terminology presumably so that parents would no longer feel unequal with emotionally charged terms…
