3 Ways to Improve Your Co-Parenting Skills in the New Year

Now that you have finalized your divorce with your Tampa divorce lawyer, and you are ready to start the new year, it’s time to consider your co-parenting strategies and techniques. When there are children involved in a divorce situation, it’s best when both parents agree to cooperate and co-parent to the best of their abilities.

As people around the world vow to improve themselves and the world around them in 2018, you should make co-parenting your top priority. These tips can help both you and your ex-spouse improve your co-parenting skills in the new year:

Communicate more often as well as more effectively.

When your children are spending time in both of your households, it’s critical that you and your former spouse communicate often. If your kids are spending the weekend with you, be sure to send a few text message updates or photographs to keep your ex informed. If you want to plan an event, activity or vacation in the new year, start communicating as early as possible. Depending on your relationship with your ex-spouse, you may use different tools to communicate. While in-person discussions work for some couples, others prefer to rely on technology such as text messages, e-mail or apps that are designed for co-parenting communication.

Celebrate together, if at all possible.

For your children, it will likely always be difficult to know that you and your former spouse are no longer together. Depending on the nature of the divorce and your relationship with your former spouse, you may be able to consider celebrating special occasions together. You may want to consider a joint family birthday party as your first celebration together. If that goes well, you may try other holidays and events. Eventually, you will find the right balance that suits your family dynamics.

Make commitments and stick to them.

Co-parenting works best when both parties make agreements and hold themselves accountable to the plan. If you are committed to attending an after-school activity, then make sure that you are at that activity when scheduled. If you agree to pick your children up from school each day, then make that a priority. When you both adhere to the schedule, then there will be less stress and frustration throughout the year.

Perhaps the new year is also the right time to evaluate the co-parenting plan that you created with your Tampa divorce lawyer. If you want to make any changes to your co-parenting plan, then contact our Florida law firm today. We look forward to meeting with you and helping you create a co-parenting plan that works for both you and your children.