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When parents cannot agree on a custody arrangement, the court is left with a tough decision. The court will consider many factors when deciding to whom to award custody. In many cases, a consideration of the various factors results in an award of custody to the parent who has been the child's primary caretaker. The following checklist can help you and your attorney establish who has been the primary caretaker in your family.

Who was usually or most often responsible for performing the following childcare responsibilities?
Task	Mother	Father	Shared
Feeding infant	______	______	______
Feeding younger children	______	______	______
Changing diapers	______	______	______
Holding/cuddling	______	______	______
Preparing meals	______	______	______
Packing lunches	______	______	______
Grocery shopping	______	______	______
Changing diapers	______	______	______
Dressing	______	______	______
Doing laundry	______	______	______
Buying clothing	______	______	______
Maintaining clothing	______	______	______
Bathing	______	______	______
Washing hair	______	______	______
Styling hair	______	______	______
Brushing teeth (help with or enforce)	______	______	______
Putting to bed	______	______	______
Reading stories, books	______	______	______
Helping with homework	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from school	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from extracurricular activities	______	______	______
Conferencing with teachers	______	______	______
Attending school open houses	______	______	______
School volunteering	______	______	______
Choosing schools	______	______	______
Helping choose classes	______	______	______
Attending PTA/PTO meetings	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from religious services	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from religious classes	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from sports activities	______	______	______
Coaching sports teams	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from lessons	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from play dates	______	______	______
Arranging play dates	______	______	______
Hosting play dates	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from birthday parties	______	______	______
Hosting birthday parties	______	______	______
Shopping for gifts for friends	______	______	______
Shopping for gifts for child	______	______	______
Shopping for school supplies	______	______	______
Shopping for toiletries	______	______	______
Taking to doctor	______	______	______
Taking to dentist	______	______	______
Taking to orthodontist	______	______	______
Making doctor/dentist appointments	______	______	______
Taking care of sick child	______	______	______
Hiring babysitters	______	______	______
Picking up/dropping off babysitter	______	______	______
Arranging daycare	______	______	______
Taking to/picking up from daycare	______	______	______
Planning holidays	______	______	______
Planning vacations	______	______	______
Teaching values	______	______	______
Teaching manners	______	______	______
Monitoring chores	______	______	______
Teaching sex education	______	______	______
Taking to park	______	______	______
Playing with indoors	______	______	______
Playing with outdoors	______	______	______
Cleaning home	______	______	______
Maintaining home	______	______	______
Other (please list):
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