over for tea every Tues/Thurs. His ex is now taking him to court to get a contact order as she says she wants him to have them on the same specific days and overnight regardless of whether he is working or not. My husband and I both work full time so are not available either through the day. Please advise. Thankyou A. Congratulations on your son becoming a police officer. It is unfortunate that an application has been issued in this case. I see that your son needs to work. I don't think he is being unreasonable. He has a new role and does not have much flexibility when deciding shift patterns. Equally, I do not know what the mother does for a living but she may also have childcare and work issues that make being flexible difficult. Mediation would have been a good opportunity to talk through some dates that perhaps need to change after maybe a 4 weeks cycle. They need to work together to make contact work. If your son is not free for contact, you may have the children but it may not always be possible. It will be difficult for the court to make an order defining contact. It may be that the contact schedule must be revised frequently to fit around shifts. It does not asset if contact is cancelled because that upsets the children and in unfair on mother who may have made plans around the contact. Try to agree a meeting whenever