 | STEVE'S STORY |
| Children: | Two boys aged 5 & 7 |
| Shared Parenting Arrangement: | Primary caregiver mum, Steve has the boys every second weekend and every Wednesday. |
| Time: | Divorced for 6 months. |
Hi, my name's Steve. I have two boys aged 5 and 7 that live primarily with their mother. I think my situation is pretty common where my boys spend every other weekend and every Wednesday with me.
When I separated from my wife I found that it was nearly impossible to stay up to date with everything that was happening with my kids. I wasn't comfortable talking daily with my ex to find out what was going on and as a result I felt like I was missing out.
I was searching online for parenting tips for dads and found Two Homes. The Two Homes Organiser has been amazing! I now feel like I'm completely in the loop in regards to the boys and I have found that my relationship with my ex has improved by communicating through the Two Homes Organiser.
I now feel like I have more control and input and I actually have to speak less not more to my ex!
 | SARAH'S STORY |
| Children: | Son aged 9 |
| Shared Parenting Arrangement: | 50/50 shared parenting. |
| Time: | Separated for 6 months. |
I'm normally a very organised person and when we all lived together I found it relatively simple to run the family and manage our routines. Since the separation I have found it really hard to adjust. It has been a challenge emotionally, physically and mentally and on top of that all our routines and the way we did things had to change.
I sometimes felt like I was not sure if I was coming or going and I was always worried that my ex husband might forget to pick up our son from school or take him to his friends birthday party etc etc. I also found that we would have an argument nearly every time we did speak about silly things like forgetting to return clothes, forgotten school books, or late drop offs.
Since using the Two Homes Organiser I now Don't worry about whether my son's father will remember when and where to pick up my son. The calendar makes it so easy to see what our son's schedule and activities are and to inform the other person if any changes need to be made to it. The Organiser has helped us to create new routines and put some order and peace of mind back into our day-to-day activities. As an added bonus it also helped us to easily define a parenting plan that we were both happy with - all without the need to involve expensive lawyers!
 | MIKE & SALLY'S STORY |
| Children: | 2 children from Mike's first marriage, 1 child together |
| Shared Parenting Arrangement: | Thursday pm to Monday Am every 2nd week. |
| Time: | Divorced for 5 years, married for 2 years. |
Trying to manage 3 kids can be hard at the best of times. I actually think it's harder to do when they are not all living in the same house 100% of the time. We love having Mike's kids but it can be stressful trying to manage all our schedules, the change overs between homes and also organising things like birthdays, school and sporting events.
Before we started using the Two Homes Organiser we often found ourselves in an argument with Mike's ex wife over who said or agreed to what, especially around changes to our routine. Now we record everything through the Two Homes organiser so there's no confusion or misunderstandings. We have also found it great for things like sorting out who's buying what for birthdays, and facilitating basic discussions around the kids.
The kids also love it as they can see who they're with at any point in time and we find they now use the system to bring up things where they need both homes to be involved e.g. wanting a mobile phone!
 | JASON'S STORY |
| Children: | 3 children |
| Shared Parenting Arrangement: | Every weekend. |
| Time: | Separated for 18 months. |
Unfortunately our split up was pretty messy and we're still not able to talk to each other without getting angry and into a fight. I felt like my ex was keeping things from me and that I was missing out but that there was no point talking to her about it because it would just end up in an argument.
We now communicate mainly through the Two Homes Orgnaiser and I have found that it has actually improved our relationship. When we talk (through the system) it's normally about practical things and there's no emotion attached. Things are calmer now and I feel like we can get on with being good parents versus enemies.
 | ANNA'S STORY |
| Children: | 5, 7 and 12 year old |
| Shared Parenting Arrangement: | Primary caregiver. |
| Time: | Separated for 9 months. |
The Two Homes organiser has been a god send for me! It helped us to create an interim parenting plan and we're currently using it to create our final plans. The decisions I make now regarding the arrangements for our children are critical, what we do during school holidays, birthdays and other special occasions are really important and I didn't even think about them until I went through the Two Homes set up process.
It has been really helpful to be able to create proposed schedules and sort out any disagreements before finalising the plan and submitting it to our lawyers. I have heard other divorced friends talk about how long and how expensive it was to create a parenting plan that worked but using Two Homes has made it really simple and cheap!
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