Washington state has weather that many would traditionally describe as “dreary.” Seattle, for instance, is famous for its rain. However, climate change has brought new challenges each year, and the weather in the entire Pacific Northwest, regardless of which side of the Cascades you’re on, is much more unpredictable now.
Unpredictable weather means a chance of your plans getting washed out quickly. So what can you do?
Does rain derail your plans?
One of the most frustrating parts of parenting plans is those with last-minute cancellations. This can happen with all kinds of events:
- Weddings
- Graduations
- Birthday parties
- Baseball games
- Practice
A last-minute weather turn can upend long-anticipated events like this. Depending on which side of the Cascades you’re on, this is a more or less regular thing. However, if you’re in Seattle,one relatively new weather feature is the heat .
Most of Seattle can remember a time when having home air conditioning wasn’t all that necessary. There would be the occasional heat wave, but things wouldn’t be so sweltering as to change the city’s heat responsiveness. In the last few years, that has changed. That can change your long-term plans as well if the heat suddenly makes your housing situation unfriendly to small children. And that isn’t getting into the very frightening issue of wildfires
Parenting plans and co-parenting requires flexibility
The state of Washington requires coparents to develop parenting plans, and a key feature of these is last minute changes to plan. The parenting plan that you reach with your coparents has to bake that in, but it has to fit your life.
The ability to alter stay plans or change vacations has to be added to the plan. Weather is always going to be unpredictable. But what shouldn’t be unexpected is the time you spend with your kids.