Going into the divorce process, one of your biggest concerns was likely how ending your marriage would affect your children. Although divorce can affect your children, it is something that happens to many families every year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2019, 746,971 couples in the U.S. divorced or annulled their marriages. If you and your ex have plans to jointly parent your children, the following tips may help.
Set aside your feelings
You may still have feelings of anger, resentment and frustration left over from your divorce. Try not to let these emotions spill over into your co-parenting relationship. Remember to put your children’s needs first and not let your feelings affect the arrangement.
Maintain consistent schedules and rules
As you transition your children to living in two households, maintain similar schedules, routines and rules at both homes. For example, follow the same bedtime routine and have the same limits for screen time at both households.
Work on improved communication
The way you and your ex communicate can affect the effectiveness of your co-parenting relationship. Update your former spouse regularly about your children and set up regular meeting times to discuss your children, schedules, etc. You should also determine how you and your spouse will communicate, whether it is over text messages, email or in-person meetings.
Learning to share parenting responsibilities with your former spouse can be a challenging process. Although it may be difficult at first, co-parenting with your ex will likely get easier over time.