Having a child custody calendar is extremely important when it comes to figuring out how time with your children is spent after a divorce or separation.
It is important to remember a couple of things as you begin to create your perfect custody calendar.
First, your children are number one.
They should always be your first priority and you should always have their best interests in mind when making any arrangements for them.
Second, as much as is possible, work with the children's other parent.
Working together will not only show your children how much you care about them but also make it easier for both parents to make the best decisions regarding the children.
As you make your custody calendar, there are some basic components you should incorporate to make it most effective.

1. An everyday or school schedule.
   This schedule details where your children spend their time everyday or residentially.
   This type of schedule is also known as a repeating cycle of visitation or custody.
   This will either be a sole or joint custody arrangement.
   In a sole custody situation, this schedule may include weekday, overnight or weekend visits to the non-custodial parent or another agreed-upon arrangement.
   In a joint custody situation, you and the children's other parent may agree upon a 50/50 split schedule such as 5/2/2/5 or 3/3/4/4 or another suitable arrangement depending on how far parents live from each other and what activities the children attend.
   
2. A holiday schedule.
   This is a schedule that shows how holidays are spent.
   It should include of all holidays you wish to celebrate, how each holiday is divided and how those holidays rotate yearly.
   It may be that all holidays are spent with one parent if that parent lives out of state or far away or it may be that holidays are spent all together or divided equally so the children spend some time with each parent on every holiday.
   The schedule for holidays takes precedence over the everyday schedule.
   
3. A school break or vacation schedule.
   Your children's regular schedule may change when there are school breaks.
   Because of this, a schedule specifically for school breaks and vacations should be included in your custody calendar.
   This schedule will also take precedence over the regular schedule.
   
4. A schedule for special events.
   Special events are negate the need to make one-time changes to the regular custody calendar.
   This should include sports events, extracurricular activities and other events your children attend.
   
5. Provisions.
   Provisions are extra guidelines or rules that help make the calendar work more effectively.
   Provisions you may want to include are information about how to make changes to the calendar, not speaking negatively about the other parent in front of the children or not smoking or drinking alcohol in front of the children.
   

As you make your custody calendar, remember your children.
They should be your number one priority.