When parents are no longer in a relationship with each other but both play an active role in their child’s life, the logistics of communicating in necessary and healthy ways can prove to be complicated. For example, if each parent understands that it is wise to approach child custody & visitation matters in a healthy way for the benefit of their child but they cannot seem to be in the same room together without yelling, transferring the child between houses and sharing valuable information can seem like impossible tasks.
However, technological advances and programs created to facilitate communication between co-parents are helping to solve this issue. When parents are able to share information and hash out their differences via electronics, these efforts can put less strain on any face-to-face interaction that still occurs.
In particular, email can be a helpful form of communication because parents cannot yell at each other via email. However, it is critical for parents to remember that everything sent via the Internet can be accessed by a judge down the road. This reality can inspire parents to be on their best behavior when communicating and can be an effective incentive to communicate civilly with their child’s other parent. However, if you are prone to sending inflammatory emails, either do not use this particular tool or wait to send communications until you have had time to cool down.
In addition, several web-based programs exist specifically to facilitate communication between co-parents. These websites can enable you to upload a child’s schedule, send notes to your child’s other parent and keep a record of all communications you have had on a given issue.
Co-parenting is almost always challenging at one time or another. But advances in electronic communication technology may help you to ease the strain you feel every time you have to communicate with your child’s other parent.
Source: New York Times, “Kramer.com vs. Kramer.com,” Pamela Paul, Nov. 23, 2012