Looking for a planner / scheduler / tracker for shared custody

[WillWill12]

Hi all,

Recently separated Dad of two kids (15 & 17) and wondering if there's a free scheduler that my ex and I can use to plan for who has the kids and when, and also to keep track of % of time we have them.
Plan is to have them for two weeks each, and then swap - and have them 50/50.
It'd be useful to have a schedule that keeps a running % of who's had them.....
There are options, but most of them seem to be quite expensive ones...

Any suggestions gratefully received!

W

Are the children ok with this? At their ages they might not want to be in the middle of a Chuckle Brothers skit (to me, to you) and especially not knowing that an extra night at one means they will have to make it up because everyone is keeping tabs on the %. Are both your homes equally close to school and friends?

“Want to stay an extra night at dad’s cos it’s convenient for football the next day?” “Best stay another two days at mum’s to make sure I havre credit in the percentages.”

Kids are very happy with this indeed: and have no issue - in fact they're the ones who suggested we start off with two week stints in each house.

The % planning is not for any other reason than keeping a vague idea on % of time without have to count it manually.

Currently perfectly friendly with my ex, just trying to make this a little easier, as well as having a single shared access calendar that is the 'principal planner' rather than both our phones' calendars....

Google sheets or Excel if you both have it, but Google is free

Neither of the kids are bothered about the %....it's more to see if we're vaguely 50/50 - but not be annoying about it. Both their mum and I are totally flexible and can move weekends for the other's holidays/work trips.

Screenshot of what I mean - you do a row with who the children are with overnight, and a row each for mum and dad to indicate any plans. Formula at the end of the row does "countif" on the initials.

We used to use Cozi but it's become chargeable, and I tried various other apps but the spreadsheet is actually the simplest!

I get where you're coming from on the even split - it's not about being picky, just making sure neither party is taking the pics with the flexibility of the other. I've been there.

Many thanks for that.