Co-parenting is not easy, but it is more difficult when you do not live in the same community as your former spouse. Despite your parenting plan and custody agreement, you or your spouse may not have sufficient access and time with your children.
Therefore, these are a few tips to help you effectively co-parent your children when you live in different communities.
Talk to your former spouse
You need to do everything you can to communicate regularly with your former spouse. If the kids live with you, you need to update your co-parent regularly about what is going on in the kids’ daily lives, especially if issues or injuries arise. If you do not live with your kids, you should ask questions about your kids and stay up to date on their lives.
Create a flexible schedule
Your parenting plan should determine when you have your children and when your co-parent has them. Do your best to stick to this schedule. Your children need the consistency of a regular schedule. However, you should leave room for flexibility in case you cannot fulfill your obligations. Avoid consistently making adjustments by making travel plans early.
Talk to your kids
Whether your children live with you or not, you need to have open lines of consistent communication with them. They need to feel like they can talk to you about anything. However, if your children do not live with you, your communication is even more important. Therefore, schedule regular calls or video chats with them. If your children live with you, encourage, support and avoid interrupting this communication.
To get the best results in your co-parenting agreement, always put the best interests of your child first.
