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→Parents' failure to see a child
====Parents' failure to see a child====
Children benefit from stability and predictability; children with special needs especially benefit from stability and predictability. It is disruptive to them and to the other parent when a parent misses their parenting time, cancels at the last minute, or just fails to show up at all. This is an absolute no-no. It sends a message to the children that they don't matter to the parent or that other things, like work, are more important to the other parent than they are. As well, both parents need to be able to rely on their parenting schedule; this benefits children by giving them a reliable routine, and it benefits parents by allowing them to plan their lives when they're apart from their children.
Some flexibility from both parents is a wonderful thing, but a situation where a parent is always backing out, cancelling, or changing dates is no good for anyone. Both parents have an obligation to stick to their parenting schedule as much as possible. Sure, things sometimes happen that make it impossible to meet an obligation in a parenting schedule, but being late or cancelling a visit has to be a solution of last resort and can't become a constant feature of the children's time with a parent.