In a household where both parents work and there’s a young child, weekday evenings can be taken up with caregiving, while weekends can fill up with family plans. If one parent regularly has time to themselves, how should the other parent’s downtime be ensured as well? Do you think scheduling alternating free time works, or is it fairer to decide based on changing needs from week to week?
I’d say take turns. It gives both of them a chance to breathe.
Even if taking turns seems fair in itself, the demands of each week may not be the same. For example, if one parent has a major work deadline that week, it may be more useful to consider caregiving responsibilities and how much rest each person is able to get, rather than splitting free time into equal minutes.
You’re right; it’s not enough for the calendar to show equal amounts of time. Sometimes one person’s free time is the other person’s time to put the child to bed and get things ready for the next day. Maybe we should first talk about how much truly uninterrupted rest time each of us gets, and then adjust the plan week by week.
