Co-parenting requires you and your ex to have a respectful relationship with each other. This isn’t always easy to do, especially when there’s been negativity associated with the end of the romantic relationship.
There are many things you can do to improve communication when you’re co-parenting. Being able to put these into practice can teach your children valuable skills and can help to keep the stress down as you work with your ex.
Romance doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter why your romantic relationship ended. Nothing from that should come into the picture now. Instead, the sole focus has to be on raising the children. Being able to remove the emotional reactions from the co-parenting relationship can help everyone to feel more relaxed.
Direct communication
You and your ex need to speak directly to each other now. You can’t use the children as messengers because there’s a risk of things being relayed incorrectly. There’s also a chance that the children will have to deal with a raw reaction from a parent when the message isn’t one that’s nice. By communicating directly with your ex, you can reduce the possibility of misinformation.
Your parenting plan contains a lot of the information that can help you to make decisions about your children while you’re co-parenting. Be sure that you have the important points spelled out in this document so either adult can refer back to it when necessary. Everything should be set up so that it provides the children with what they need now. It’s possible to modify the plan later as the child matures and their needs change.