Father’s Day custody; are two terms that are not usually spoken in the same sentence. As Father’s Day approaches children of divorced and separated parents are getting ready to spend the Father’s Day holiday with their father.
While it seems like a natural occurrence for most children to spend Father’s Day with their father, children dealing with custody arrangements sometimes have to deal with pressure from their mother as well as their father on this holiday.
When parents have co-parenting issues, mothers may get jealous that their child wants to spend time with their father on Father’s Day. They may see this as taking time away from themselves. As a family law and child custody attorney and a licensed marriage family therapist in San Diego, I have seen this on more than one occasion and this is a normal feeling within reason. This becomes a problem when the child’s parent makes the child feel guilty about wanting to spend time with their father, especially on Father’s Day.
While it may sound like this blog is one-sided against mothers, the truth is there are plenty of fathers out there who use Father’s Day as a way to hurt their ex. I have seen many fathers who use Father’s Day as a way to blame their ex-spouse for not allowing their child to spend more time with them except on holidays.
Additionally, I have seen fathers use Father’s Day custody plans as a way of making their child feel guilty for spending more time with their mother than with them. These fathers use their child as a possession to be won and as a way of getting back at their ex rather than seeing Father’s Day as how it should be, which is spending time with each other celebrating a special day.
Parents with co-parenting issues need to understand the harm they can inflict upon their child. There are plenty of co-parenting programs around to help parents learn ways to work with the other parent as not to negatively affect their child.
Father’s Day custody, two terms not often used together, but in the right situation they can lead to a special day between a child and their father.
To inquire further about parenting plans involving high conflict parents look for a local family law attorney who can discuss this process as it relates to your specific situation. In San Diego, contact the Law Offices of Brian A. Victor for more information on child custody and Father’s Day custody plans. www.brianvictorlaw.com
