WA Wanting More Time with My Child - Suggestions?

[NathanT]

I want to be able to have my child (of primary school age) for more days in a fortnight for the sake of helping her to improve her grades.

I currently have my child for 3 nights a week, which is for the weekend. During the week she is living at my Ex's. To cut a long story short, there are plenty of evidence that my Ex has not prioritised our daughter's educational needs. Through mediation, I proposed a change of when I spend time with my child, to have her during the week nights so as to be able to help her with home work and provide her with support (such as reading and other revision) so that she can improve her grades.

She is currently at C average and her semester report comments are that she is capable of better. I have spoken with her teacher and in her opinion, my daughter is relatively smart compared with her peers. My Ex did not accept my proposal.

Does anyone have any suggestions of the path I can consider to obtain the result I am after?

 

[sammy01]

Do you have court orders? Have you tried mediation?

Apply to court, learn to self-represent.

 

[AllForHer]

You've got three nights a week already? That's nearly 50/50 - a pretty good deal, really, but I understand why you'd want some of those nights to occur on weekdays, and I can't imagine any reason for that not to take place. Indeed, the legislation supports care arrangements that ensure the child spends a combination of weekday and weekend time with each parent, not just weekend time.

My concern here, is your reasoning for seeking weekday time. You seem to think your ex is solely responsible for your child's performance at school, as though you can do better, and whether that's true or not, it's the wrong attitude to take with you into Court.

The reason you should want weekday time is to ensure the child is balancing weekend time with weekday time - that she experiences her time with you in your household during the week, when there are routines and bed times and homework to be done, with her time with you in your household on the weekend, when you can visit the zoo and go to the park and take her to the movies.

See how the perception is a little different?