Military members are often away from home. This can make it difficult for parents to keep in touch with their children. Unfortunately, this is just the nature of military service, but parents these days have more tools at their disposal that can help them stay in touch with their children.

While they aren’t really an alternative to in-person visits with the children, virtual visits can help them remain in contact with the kids when they can’t be right there. Working out the terms for these visits will usually require both parents to put in an effort.

Virtual visits take part using technology. This can include video chats, emails, instant messages, texts and any other electronic form of communication. Thinking about the child’s abilities and maturity level might help make it easier to determine which are the most appropriate.

Typically, the schedule for these visits is based on the child’s time zone, so parents who are overseas might have to wake up in the middle of the night for the visit. It is important for the child to be able to keep a normal schedule, so it isn’t realistic for the parents to expect them to wake up at odd hours.

The communication in these visits should be uncensored, just the same as an in-person visit would be. They might involve the parent and child talking, but they can also include things like the parent helping the child with homework or reading them a book.

Terms for the virtual visits should be covered in the parenting plan so that there aren’t any questions about what’s expected. As the child’s needs change, the order can be modified.