Co-parenting is something that might not work for all parents who aren’t in a committed relationship for each other. This type of parenting arrangement means that you and your ex will have to work closely together to create a cohesive and consistent life for your children.
Going into a co-parenting relationship means that you and your ex need to come up with a plan. You need to think about the specific rules that will govern both homes. On top of that, you need to consider how communication will be handled and how you will work through disagreements.
Another thing that you need to remember about co-parenting is that you will need to remain flexible. There is a chance that even when you lay out plans that they will need to be changed. You must learn how to roll with the punches as long as your child’s health or safety isn’t being impacted by the changes.
As your child grows up, the situations you and your ex find yourselves in will change. You might move from needing to help with classroom holiday parties to having to figure out where and when to have graduation parties. All of these are important and will require you and your ex to show each other mutual respect.
One of the keys to making co-parenting work is to keep your children as the center of things. As long as you are focused on the children and doing things for them, you might find that it is easier for you and your ex to get along and work through your differences.
Source: Our Family Wizard, “What Is Co-Parenting?,” accessed Dec. 22, 2017