In the not so distant past, parents who were unable to have in-person parenting time with their kids because of distance or illness simply missed out on the bonding that could have happened. With the advances in technology, these parents and children can now turn to virtual visits to bridge the gap when it isn’t possible to have time together in person.
It’s difficult to adjust to the virtual visits, but they can prove valuable if the child or a parent has a contagious illness. Instead of taking the risk of exposing the healthy party to the germs, they can spend time together via video chat or a similar method.
There are many ways that parents and children can use virtual visits to stay connected. They can discuss things that are going on, much in the same way they’d do if they were in the same home. The parent can also read the child a story or help with homework. It might even be possible to play board games or something similar with a bit of creativity.
Because virtual visits might even be used if the parents live near each other, such as when there’s an illness, all parents who are working out a parenting plan might opt to include the terms of these visits in the plan. For example, the communication between the parent and child shouldn’t be censored. They should be free to speak as though they were alone in that parent’s home. Discuss the terms that you might need to include with your lawyer, so they can provide you with guidance.