You and your ex may not see eye-to-eye on how to parent your children. However, effective co-parenting can help your kids enjoy a relationship with both parents.
Divorce Magazine offers strategies to help you manage your shared custody arrangement.
Communicate consistently
Co-parenting requires that you juggle a lot of balls. When you and your ex maintain regular communications with each other, you can share updates about school and extracurricular commitments. These updates allow both parents to stay involved in their children’s lives.
Consistent communication can also help ease transitions as you and your ex work out logistics such as dropping your children off at the other’s house.
Communication should focus on your kids and be positive. If you find yourself unhappy with a parenting decision that your ex made, share your dissatisfaction privately and not in front of your children.
Reach agreement on a budget
Parents must provide support for their families every day in the form of food, clothing and school supplies. Parents may also have significant expenses such as tuition and medical bills. You and your partner must compare budgets and discuss how to share both recurring and extraordinary expenses.
Help your kids feel secure
Your children can feel more secure when they have structure:
- Allow them to have a relationship with both parents and other family members.
- Create, follow and communicate schedules that give them predictability at home and in school.
- Embrace traditions they can enjoy.
Providing a sense of security may help your kids regulate their emotions and focus on school.
Sharing custody may feel more manageable if you set aside time to focus on your needs. When you create space for yourself, you feel energized to support your children and embrace the challenges of co-parenting.
