Co-parenting after divorce can be much different than parenting together during a marriage. Parents need to redefine their relationship and take intentional steps to co-parent successfully.
How can you do this? Below are four tips that may be beneficial as you move into this new stage in your life.
1. Focus on communication
For one thing, you and your co-parent need to be able to communicate with each other. You’ll have to talk about when to pick the children up, what school activities they have, what medical care they need and much more.
2. Put the children first
When talking to your co-parent, always strive to put your children first and focus on their best interests. This can make it easier to compromise because both of you are focused more on your children than on what you each want individually.
3. Cooperate when possible
As far as parenting is concerned, the two of you should attempt to cooperate in areas where you can. This can be hard, but it’s good to have some flexibility around Christmas, birthdays, graduation, extracurricular activities and the like. If the two of you can cooperate, your children can still enjoy all these activities.
4. Be respectful of each other
Finally, even though you and your ex may not be on the best of terms, you should always try to be respectful. You are modeling this behavior for your children so that they will respect both of you as their parents. It helps to reduce conflict.
These are different areas that you should keep in mind when going through a divorce and setting up your parenting arrangement. Make sure that you know what legal steps you can take to get through this process with a focus on your kids.
