Co-Operative Co-Parenting

When a relationship breaks down, parents often try their hardest to do what is best for the children involved. For me, that meant removing S’s father from our lives completely. For a lot of parents, it means biting your tongue and trying to be pleasant to your ex, for the sake of the children.

Co-parenting can be strained and stressful at the best of times; making polite conversation while the children are in earshot, when you would much rather scream obscenities/walk away/not be there in the first place, is a fine art that takes practice on both parts. At this time of year, with the inevitable arguments over who gets the children for Christmas/Boxing Day/New Year, things can become particularly difficult.

The Co-Operative Legal Services, who offer advice on all areas of family law, have put together a co-parenting guide which can help you to set ground rules and keep things as amicable as possible. In fact, there’s a full co-parenting pack you can download to help you to put things in place, and avoid arguments.

I know many families who co-parent, and for many of them the dust has long since settled and they’ve come to an agreement that suits everyone (as much as is possible, at least). For others, it’s a very raw and new situation that requires delicate handling by all concerned in order to come through the holidays unscathed.

When we stop to think about the bare bones of the situation, the one thing all parents, divorced, separated or otherwise should have in common is wanting whatever is best for the children. Any guide that can help to achieve that is fantastic in my opinion and I really hope this guide helps people to get through Christmas without a feud on their hands.

If you are co-parenting, do please download the guide and leave a comment here to let me know what you think of it!