Co-parenting isn’t easy, even when you have a child custody plan in place and you and your ex both know what roles you’re supposed to fill. It can be a struggle, and you may have to deal with someone that you’re not very fond of anymore. These tips can help make things a little easier for parents in Arizona.
— Talk things over as often as you can. Calling or emailing your ex may not be your favorite thing to do, but this helps ensure you’re both on the same page.
— Use technology to help schedule everything. Rather than trusting that your ex has written everything down—or that you’ve remembered everything—why not use online calendars and other software programs to keep track? These can often be updated on either side, by you or your spouse, so you can both easily check up on the most recent changes.
— Don’t make your kids pass along your messages. This may sound nicer than directly talking to your ex, but kids can forget, they can accidentally give the wrong message or they could fail to understand what you’re telling them. Again, online systems can help with this.
– Be open to compromise. You already have to split time with your kids with your ex. This alone tells you that neither of you will get exactly what you want. If you always fight for more for yourself, it leads to a lot of battles. Compromising on the little things can make life easier.
As you use these tips, make sure you also brush up on all of your legal rights.
Source: Huffington Post, “5 Tips for Co-Parenting,” James J. Sexton, accessed Oct. 27, 2015