Child Care – involved with so much emotions right? Every time you are stuck in such a situation that you feel like balancing between a literal ringmaster of circus – demanding discipline and what could be better for our lovely brat. And, if you have ever wondered,” Life would have been much easier if…along with your morning coffee then you are not alone.

Bobby blasted through my home with the force of a tsunami, though it was just a couple of socks this time, for the millionth time he left his dirty laundry in the living room. It’s like attempting to keep hold of a tangled string of yarns when you try to divide parenting tasks uniformly. How Johnny would have come with a user manual like this! And yet, we parents waltz through pick-ups, drop offs, birthday parties and the annual reminder that your ex still has your copy of ‘Finding Nemo.’

And it’s a whole another ballgame when it comes to the legal aspects of it. You get into the world of custody law and it’s a sea out there with conditions, subsections and paperwork you alone would fail to know how to put the pieces together. The legal jargon is enough to make you clutch your pearls but that’s not the end of it, there is a whole bunch of people battling with this monster here.

However the piece of sanity that balance itself on top? The emotional rollercoaster I have seen some parents be on who have had to negotiate each other for custody arrangements over who gets the kids on Christmas day. I have witnessed parents compromise on thanksgiving dinners and midnight runs to pick up their teenagers. A sprinkle of kindness, dash of open communication and a pinch of give and take are the secret recipe to peace.

Don’t forget amidst all this serious talk about custody issues, there are still those gleams when you see a sweet moment for each complex argument —like the time when your little sweetie outed your ex’s fib at a Monopoly game with a “Nice try!” These are more worth than anything in gold.

Though, this path is definitely not easy but come on which parents life was anyways? Charge ahead with a little humor and a sprinkle of patients perhaps even talking with someone who has been there would offer you the guidance you need. Because in the end, as parents the most important custody fight is the one fought for the giggles and bedtime stories. If only those could be kept forever…