In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: The separation date is a legal date upon which you and your spouse or partner decide to stop living together as a couple. It doesn't mean that you have left the apartment or home you share together; these details can be worked out. If the separation isn't a mutual decision, the separation date is the date upon which you've told your partner of your decision to separate, and that you no longer consider yourself to be in relationship. If you ultimately decide to get divorced, you'll need to be legally separated for a certain period of time (usually 3-6 months, but sometimes as long as 1 year) before the divorce process can be initiated. This can be a difficult decision to make, and you'll want to consider a variety of factors. If you have children, your decision needs to consider where the children will live, taking into consideration their school and childcare needs. Other factors to think about include: the financial ability to pay for separate housing, health and work considerations, and the emotional stress of continuing to live in the home you once shared. It's possible to be legally separated while continuing to share the same home. This may be more emotionally draining, but can be considered if you're in a situation where moving out is financially impossible. Again, if you have children, you'll want to consider their needs when finding a separate apartment during the separation if you want them to spend time with you. Don't forget about the pets. If one of you will move out, who will take any cats, dogs, or other pets? If you have children together, you'll want to make sure you work out a plan for childcare before initiating the separation. You and your partner should come to a clear agreement about what to tell your children regarding your separation. Be very clear with one another about developing a schedule for who will take care of your children, and what the expectations around childcare might be. You'll need to be as clear as possible regarding financial planning for your children's needs. For example who will pay for school books, clothes, and other essentials? Make sure you and your partner are in agreement about these things for your children's best interest. If you and your spouse share checking accounts, you'll need to agree on whether or not you should continue to share these accounts during your separation. If you decide to keep the accounts, you should agree on the way your shared money will be spent. For example, you may decide that your shared accounts will be spent on childcare, rent and mortgages, while a new independent checking account can be used for your individual expenses during the separation. You may wish to consider requiring both your signature and your mate's for any expenditure drawn from your shared account in order to provide additional protection. Or, you may decide to divide any currently shared financial assets. These may be difficult conversations to have, but talking about these things will help avoid misunderstandings. If you need help making these decisions, consider talking to a financial counselor or mediator. You should decide together what to share with your mutual friends, family, and acquaintances regarding your separation. In addition, you should also decide together when to tell them. If you have children, talk to them first, before you share the information with others. You and your partner should agree on what should be shared on social media regarding your separation. Talk to each other about how to best handle mutual friendships and family members or in-laws during the separation. What are your expectations regarding the separation? For example, are you planning for staying apart for a certain number of months as you try to work things out? Are you planning on attending couples counseling during your separation? If so, make this explicit. One of the decisions that you'll need to make is whether or not each of you will be free to date others during your separation. It's recommended that you agree to refrain from dating others during this time. You may want to revisit this decision after a set period of time. You might decide to have weekly date nights with each other during the separation. These dates can allow you and your partner to renew your relationship in a way that wasn't possible when you were sharing a home together.
Summary: Make a note of your separation date. Decide who will move out. Work out the details of childcare. Make decisions about shared finances. Think about what to tell friends and family. Decide the terms of your separation.

Problem: Article: The squares need to be about 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) larger than the base of your bottle. Use a ruler to make the squares even. If you are a child making this project, ask an adult to help you with this step. If you need to, trim the dowels down. If you can't find any dowels, glue three wooden skewers together; this counts as one dowel. You will need 12 skewers total. You can use acrylic paint or spray paint. They can all be one color, or even different colors. Make sure that you paint the edges of your cardboard squares as well. Cover the bottom of your sand timer with glue, and press it into the middle of the first cardboard square. Cover the top of your sand timer with glue, and press the other cardboard square on top. You can use any type of thick glue for this: school glue, wood glue, hot glue, or epoxy. Place a drop of glue on the bottom of the first dowel. Press the dowel into the corner of the bottom square. Place a drop of glue on top of the dowel, and slide it under the top square. Make sure that the dowel is as straight as possible. Repeat this step for the other three dowels. You can leave your sand timer plain, or you can decorate it further. Here are some ideas to get you started: Wrap some ribbon around the dowels. Cover the edges of the cardboard squares with glitter glue. Draw designs on the top and bottom cardboard square using glitter glue. Let the glue dry before you do the other side. Glue one some plastic rhinestones or jewels along the dowels. Add on some glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the top and bottom cardboard squares.
Summary:
Trace two large squares on a sheet of cardboard. Cut the squares out using a box cutter or craft knife. Find four wooden dowels that are the same height as your sand timer. Paint the cardboard and dowels and wait for the paint to dry. Glue the cardboard squares to the top and bottom of your sand timer, and let the glue dry. Glue in the dowels between the cardboard squares. Decorate your finished sand timer further.