How do you define a "shared parenting" arrangement? Did you spend a month with your dad, and then a month at your mom's? Or was it different? How long did the arrangement last? What was it like?

When my parents got their divorce they tried an arrangement that went like this: my dad took one of us (there were three of us, all sisters) for a month, brought back the one he had and brought home another, had her for a month, then brought her back and had the third for a month. He didn't want to have all three of us at the exact same time because we were a handful. (That's my best guess, anyway!) The arrangement didn't work out very well. We (my sisters and I) missed being together and, the first time he chose one of us to stay with him for the very first month he picked one of my younger sisters over me...lol I can laugh about it now, but back then it wasn't very funny. I was very jealous. It hurt my feelings. Eventually, my dad did the weekend- parenting thing. He took all three of us every other weekend and that arrangement went on for years. It seemed to work out well enough for our family. No, it's not the same as having an intact family, but the arrangement wasn't all bad. I actually got more quality time with my dad than I did when he and my mom had been married.

What have been your experiences with 'shared parenting' or joint custody, when you were a kid?