}}This section is all about putting your children first and developing building good parenting arrangements &mdash; arrangments that work well for the children while also working and for you. It provides a <span class="noglossary">brief</span> introduction to parenting after separation and talks about a few of the things that you probably want to think about when figuring out the arrangements for parenting after separation that are most likely to be in your children's best interests. It also provides examples of different kinds of parenting arrangements that might help you develop your own.

While the other sections in parts of this chapter, especially the section "[[Basic_Principles_of_Parenting_after_Separation|Basic Principles of Parenting after Separation]]," discuss the legal issues involved in deciding how children <span class="noglossary">will</span> be cared for after a couple separate, they don't say much about the practical day-to-day issues involved in parenting after separation and options for dividing children's time between their parents' homes. This section will briefly discuss what it means to parent after separation and how separation affects children, but mostly focuses on building good parenting arrangements. It might help to read the section on [[Separating Emotionally]] section , under the [[Separating and Getting Divorced]] chapter, when you're done here.

As we discussed in the section "[[Separating Emotionally]]," under the [[Separating and Getting Divorced]] chapter, separation stirs up a turbulent stew of powerful emotions that can take a surprisingly long time to work through, and often winds up clouding parents' judgment. You can find yourself doing things and saying things you never thought you would, or doing things you promised you'd never do again. In the midst of all of this, you may also find yourself having to resolve critical legal issues that will have a profound effect on your future and the futures of your children.