Raising children after a divorce doesn’t have to be challenging. With the right pillars, co-parenting can offer numerous benefits — with the right communication. How and what you convey to your co-parent is crucial. You can have a smooth co-parenting experience if your communication is excellent.
Here are four tips that can help you achieve this:
1. Agree on communication channels
You and your co-parent should agree on how to contact each other. You can choose calls, text messages or emails. If possible, you can physically meet to discuss critical matters. It will also help to have a different communication channel for emergencies.
2. Set boundaries
Boundaries are necessary between co-parents. You can set boundaries on what to talk about and when to contact each other. For instance, it will help to avoid discussing non-child matters or contacting each other past a particular time at night except when it’s an emergency. Further, you can decide on how often to communicate. You don’t have to talk every day — you can do it once a week or once a month.
3. Listen to your co-parent
Actively listening to your co-parent and respecting their opinions or suggestions is key to successful co-parenting. You should listen not to respond, but to know where they are coming from. And when you don’t have a response, tell them you will reach out when you do. You don’t have to respond immediately to all matters.
4. Don’t communicate through the kids
Of course, you can pass simple messages to your co-parent through your children — like what time they need to be at their summer dance class. Anything more important, like issues around parenting, should be communicated privately, however.
The tips discussed above should help you improve communication with your co-parent. However, if they refuse to cooperate, making your work difficult, you may need to consider your legal options.
