Parenting Divorce Tips

FAMILY IS FOREVER

PARENTING TIPS FOR DIVORCED PARENTS

1. Separation and divorce means a new living situation and a new set of rules for  everyone. Give yourself and your children a fair chance to adjust. Change doesn’t happen overnight.

2. Kids need to know what to expect. Where will I be this weekend? Who will pick me up from soccer? Get a calendar, and mark down what the children will be doing each day, and post it in a prominent place in the house.
3. Be flexible. There will be a time when you need a favor, too.
4. Be dependable. Your children count on you following through with your promises to spend time with them.
5. Communicate with your ex-spouse, and allow him or her to be involved in extra-curricular or social activities too. If the child has a birthday invitation during the other parent’s time, pass along the invitation to the other spouse promptly.
6. Don’t schedule activities during time the child will be with the other parent without discussing and agreeing upon the activity first.
7. Don’t make unkind remarks about the other parent in the child’s presence. Your children love both of you, and you hurt your child when you speak poorly of the other parent.
8. Don’t make the children your messengers. If you have news to deliver, parenting time to schedule, or a check to drop off, do it yourself. Don’t put your children in the middle.
9. The children’s needs will change over time. Be prepared to change with them, and to take their developmental needs and added maturity into account when  reassessing your parenting plans.
10. Remember that the children are your children for the rest of your life, not just until they are 18. There’s a lifetime of family activities that you’ll want to attend, and your ex will want to attend, too. Cultivate a relationship with your ex – the child’s other parent – such that you can be comfortable sitting in the same room for events like class plays, graduations or weddings.