I have to admit that one of the tougher “administrative” things that has come with life as a single parent is how important and challenging it is to keep good records–keeping track of birth certificates, immunization records, social security cards, and other details when there are two parents and two homes can be a very big deal!
It seems like it’s not enough just to have two of everything. I think that just about every year in the years since my divorce, my ex has asked me for my kids’ social security numbers. I just keep giving them to him and trying not to wonder about his record-keeping system (since it’s not really my problem anymore). I now keep an expanding file with multiple copies of each birth certificate, social security cards and have made copies of all the immunization records as well. Whenever someone needs to go to camp, a field trip, apply for a job (my kids are all older teenagers now), it’s a pain if all the records are kept at one house–but I do make sure I’ve got originals of everything.
In addition to the basics, keeping records of doctor and dentist appointments, allergies, and other special considerations is definitely a bigger task in a divorced family. It also seems that each year, we need to re-train the schools in order to make sure that copies of report cards, letters, and other important papers make it to both homes (or at least that I get it so I can make copies for the other house.) Making sure insurance cards and medical record information are available to both parents can be another big issue.
With the added complications in a single-parent family or in a divorced family–it is just one of the realities that record-keeping is more complicated too. We definitely have to be extra diligent and organized in order to keep track of the important records and documents when our children may be traveling back and forth.
See Also: How Smooth is Your Transfer Day? and Parent Tug-of-War