When it comes to co-parenting success you may feel like a fish out of water. No matter how hard you try, you run into one problem after the next with your ex-spouse.
Forget about what’s happened in the past, and turn your attention to the steps you can take to improve your situation in the future. Here are five things you can do to achieve a greater level of co-parenting success:
- Don’t focus solely on your feelings: There is nothing more important than doing what’s best for your children. Just the same, consider the feelings of your ex-spouse. This allows you to make decisions that are best for everyone, not just you.
- Remain flexible: You want to follow your parenting plan as closely as possible, but it’s okay to make changes on the fly every now and again. If the other parent asks you to alter your visitation schedule, for example, consider if you can accommodate their request. Don’t automatically shoot down the idea.
- Don’t turn every disagreement into an argument: This may be one of the things that lead to your divorce, but you don’t have to continue this in the future. If you disagree about something, walk away and gather your thoughts. You’ll soon come to find that small disagreements don’t have to result in big fights.
- Find a way to communicate: If you don’t communicate well face-to-face, think about using text or email to stay in touch. Experiment with every option until you find something that the both of you are happy with.
- Don’t get in the way: If your children are with your ex for the day, enjoy your time alone as opposed to looking for ways to interrupt. Getting in the way can lead to additional arguments, which is what you’re trying to prevent.
Don’t assume that it’s easy to achieve co-parenting success. There will be times when you don’t know what you’re doing. There will be times when you wonder if you’ll ever get things right.
It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn something. With each passing day, you’ll find yourself in better position to create a co-parenting plan that works for you, your ex and your children.