Co-parenting is challenging even in the best of relationships. Of course there will be agreements & disagreements about what rules, expectations, rewards & consequences, etc for desired & undesired behaviors our children display. Of course we as parents may have differing views on the importance of education as well as activities our children are involved in such as sports, music, art. Now add in a contentious divorce to that equation & co-parenting can seem impossible.
One of the important things to remember about co-parenting is that the focus is on what is best for your children. This means that we need to put our feelings aside in order to put our children first. Our children are constantly watching us, observing our reactions, & looking to us for guidance. It is important that when we do disagree that we do our best to not disagree in front of our children. It is important that as co-parents we try to communicate in a respectful manner. In some cases this may mean that we limit our communication to emails & text messages. One of the advantages of emails is that there is a record of what is said, how it is said & what is agreed upon. Ideally, we would like to think that as adults we will be able to communicate directly & respectfully but unfortunately that is not always the case.
The point of my recent blogs is a reminder that our focus needs to be what's best for our children. That can be hard when we are co-parenting with someone that constantly disagrees with us, holds resentment against us, & tries to alienate us from our children. I hate to say take the high road, but it is something to remember.
I have included some articles that I found helpful & offer tips about the do's & don'ts of co-parenting.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/two-takes-depression/201203/the-dos-and-donts-co-parenting-well
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/parenting-family/co-parenting-tips-for-divorced-parents.htm