Stop Fighting Over the Schedule, Fix This Instead | Marsha Kline Pruett

Every dollar spent fighting over a 50/50 schedule might be solving the wrong problem. What if the split barely matters to your kid at all?

Family psychologist and custody researcher Dr. Marsha Kline Pruett joins the show to break down what decades of research actually say about parenting time, and why the number of overnights rarely predicts how kids adjust.

Katherine and Marsha dig into why "quality time" can't be scheduled, what separates a real safety concern from a values disagreement, and how co-parenting quality (not competition) shapes both parents' relationships with their kids. Listen in for research-backed clarity you can use the next time a custody conversation gets heated.

What you'll learn:

Why there's no research link between 50/50 time and better outcomes for kids;What "quality time" actually looks like from a child's perspective;How to build new family traditions instead of recreating old ones; andHow to tell a genuine safety concern from a values disagreement with your co-parent

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Dr. Marsha Kline Pruett

(02:59) Why "it depends" is the honest answer on custody

(04:16) What actually predicts how kids adjust to divorce

(05:17) Why there's no such thing as scheduled quality time

(10:25) The research behind the 50/50 custody myth

(16:12) Building new holiday traditions after divorce