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3 October 2000

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JUSTICE McLAREN delivered the opinion of the court:

The petitioner, Melanie C. Wiseman, f/k/a Melanie Dorshorst,appeals the trial court's decision dismissing her motion to modifya custody and visitation judgment entered by a Wisconsin statecourt. We affirm.

The petitioner, Melanie C. Wiseman, f/k/a Melanie Dorshorst(mother), and the respondent, Ronald J. Dorshorst (father), weremarried in Wisconsin in 1986. They had two children, Trent, bornin 1987, and Tara, born in 1990. The parties subsequentlydissolved their marriage in Wisconsin in 1993. By agreemententered by the Dane County, Wisconsin, state court, the parties shared joint custody of the children, but the mother had primaryphysical placement and control of the children. The father hadplacement of the children on alternating weekends and holidays andfor six weeks in the summer.

On June 2, 1997, the mother filed a request with the Wisconsincourt requesting permission to move herself and the children to thenorth or west suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The father filed apetition to prohibit removal. In response to the petitions, theWisconsin court appointed a guardian ad litem for the children. OnAugust 1, 1997, the mother and the children moved to Lisle,Illinois. On October 7, 1997, the Wisconsin state court entered anagreed revised judgment allowing the mother to move to Illinoiswith the children. The Wisconsin court also ordered the parties toattend co-parenting counseling in Wisconsin. Visitation wasmodified as follows: the mother continued to have primary physicalplacement of the children, and the father had physical placement onapproximately alternating weekends, with adjustments made forholidays and other school breaks. The father also had physicalplacement for summer break through July. The agreed order providedthat transfers of the children occurred:

"[A]t 5:30 p.m. at Belvidere, Illinois oasis directly off from[sic] Interstate 90. All driving shall be done by a parent,step-parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or another adult bothparents have agreed is an acceptable driver."

On June 30, 1999, the mother filed a motion in Du Page County,Illinois, to modify visitation based on a substantial change incircumstances. The mother asserted that the transportationobligation was too burdensome because of her work schedule. It wasdifficult for the mother to drive the children 90 to 100 miles tothe meeting place every other Friday by 5:30 p.m. because of herwork schedule and the traffic. It was also too burdensome for themother to pick the children up from Rockford, Illinois,approximately 120 miles from her Lisle home. The mother assertedthat these arrangements prevented the children from fullyparticipating in their chosen activities. The mother also allegedthat the father slept in the same bed as Tara, their 10-year-olddaughter, exposed both of the children to pornography, and failedto secure the children with safety belts while driving.

The father was served with a summons on July 23, 1999, andlater made a special limited appearance on August 16, 1999, tocontest jurisdiction. On August 13, 1999, the father filed amotion in the Wisconsin state court to modify the judgment as tophysical placement and child support. The father also filed a ruleto show cause and an attached affidavit alleging that the motherviolated the judgment by failing to attend co-parenting counselingas previously ordered by the Wisconsin state court.

On August 25, 1999, in response to the mother's request, theDu Page County court entered the Wisconsin judgment of dissolutionof marriage and the modification judgment.

On September 2, 1999, the Wisconsin state court wrote themother requiring her to cooperate with co-parenting counseling withthe Dane County, Wisconsin, family court counseling service and toattend a joint mediation session on September 8, 1999. The courtadvised the mother that both requirements were subject to penaltiesfor contempt. The mother received this letter on September 7,1999.

On September 9, 1999, the mother filed an emergency motion,requesting the Du Page County court to stay the proceedingsinitiated by the father in Dane County, Wisconsin. The motheralleged that she did not receive proper notice of the father'smotions filed in Dane County, Wisconsin, beginning with thefather's August 13, 1999, motion to modify judgment. The motheralso alleged that the father failed to advise the Dane County,Wisconsin, court about the motions the mother had filed in Du PageCounty, Illinois.

On September 10, 1999, the mother filed a motion to amend andsupplement her motion to modify to reflect the motions the fatherfiled against her in the Dane County, Wisconsin, court. Again themother alleged that she was not served with the pleadings thefather filed in the Wisconsin court and that the father had failedto advise the Wisconsin court of the motion the mother had filed inDu Page County, Illinois. The mother also alleged that thechildren's medical records and potential witnesses were all locatedin the Du Page County and greater Chicago area.

On September 16, 1999, the father filed a motion in the DuPage County court to dismiss the mother's petition to modifyvisitation. The father asserted that the Du Page County courtlacked jurisdiction and, alternatively, requested that the Du PageCounty court concede jurisdiction to the Wisconsin court pursuantto the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (the JurisdictionAct) (750 ILCS 35/15(a) (West 1998)) and the Parental KidnappingPrevention Act of 1980 (PKPA) (28 U.S.C.