A valid reason for a woman to leave her child?

[jaaaarne]

Guys, I really need your help. This is a pretty much relationship advice for a romance novel, though, so I'm sorry if the question seems stupid or inappropriate.

Now. The story is set in the modern era Western-type society, about 7-10 years in the future. There is a couple that once had a sudden, bright and passionate romance, that, sadly, turned out to be pretty short-lived. Therefore, they divorce, having gone from being madly in love to hostility. The question is, they have a 2 y.o. baby which I need to stay with its father after the divorce.

I don't want to demonize the mother and I really don't want to kill her off (she's not a bad person, besides, it would be awesome if I could still have this character later in the story), but I need to somehow make it work. Being a woman myself I honestly cannot come up with any explanations. This has to be a non-scandalous arrangement, no forcing the kid away from her mother or something. They have to agree on the terms. I need some valid reason for the mother to agree that the baby will be better off with the father, although she and her ex-husband are now pretty hostile to each other. The mother is about 27-29 when she divorces her husband. Also, she's a kind of a performer (not a celebrity!) traveling a lot, so maybe the arrangement can somehow be tied to that?

All and any input on this will be appreciated. :)

Comments

[lea_hazel]

If the divorce is amicable, there's no reason why the kid couldn't stay with the father for whatever reason. Living in a better school district, or having more free time. If the mother has a job that makes her travel a lot, or has inconvenient hours, and the dad has a steady nine-to-five, for example. She could be a flight attendant or a chef, even a software designer. I know people in software who don't get home before ten PM on a regular basis. She could also be sick, but that comes with its own bucket of angst, and you might want something more mundane.

[jaaaarne]

Thanks for taking interest. :) And since everybody say that the stability for the child will be good enough reason, I guess I'll stick with that. The character travels a lot, so I guess her reason can be that she doesn't want the kid to live on the airplanes/trains/buses, but have a quiet life and get a normal education. That won't make her a bad mother in the eyes of other people, will it?

[lea_hazel]

Well, you can't please everyone, and people tend to have strong opinions about motherhood. I couldn't say what proportion of potential readers this might be, but I'd like to hope most people would just think she was being a responsible adult. I also know quite a few people who would be relieved that you didn't just kill her off or make her a bad mommy for angst value.