How co-parents can avoid back-to-school child custody stress

 Posted on July 30, 2020 in Uncategorized

When you're a Texas parent who is in the process of settling a divorce, your children's well-being is undoubtedly a top priority. This is also a main concern of the court as well. You simply can't be too thorough when it comes to writing out terms of agreement for your child custody and co-parenting plan.

The back-to-school season is a time when many parents who are currently navigating or have recently finalized a divorce may encounter challenges in their co-parenting plan. This is one of many reasons it's so important for you to build a strong support network from the start. That way, if a problem arises, you do not have to handle it alone.

Keep parental conflict regarding child custody at bay

It would likely be illogical to assume that you and your ex will never disagree about child-related issues in your post-divorce lifestyle. It's not uncommon for parents to have different parenting styles or to interpret what is best for their children in different ways.

Especially when your kids return to school, the clearer the terms of your parenting time agreement, the less likely you will become entangled in a dispute. If you do not want to attend the same school events as your ex, you can incorporate that into your agreement. Then again, if you get along well enough to be in the same room without arguing, you might consider simultaneously attending school events so your kids can have both parents there at the time.

Children shouldn't fight adult battles

When you filed for divorce, you knew that you would still have to interact with your ex because you have children together. Serious legal issues can arise if either of you uses your kids as messengers to deliver information that is best kept between adults.

For instance, if your ex sends your kids home with a message about how he or she isn't going to be able to make the monthly child support payment or wants to change the visitation schedule, it can cause a lot of stress for your children. To avoid this, you can write terms into your co-parenting agreement stating that you two should discuss such issues privately between each other and not involve the kids.

Working together as a team is often possible

Neither you nor your ex has control over what each of you does in your own households. Maybe your ex lets the kids eat a lot more junk food than you do. Perhaps, you let them stay up later on weekends than your ex does. These are personal parenting choices that each of you must respect in order to maintain a peaceful co-parenting relationship.

You and your ex can agree to co-operate and compromise to devise a co-parenting plan that best fits your children's needs as they move on in life after divorce. In fact, you can negotiate terms of agreement without stepping foot inside a courtroom. When you agree to put your children's best interests first and to try to avoid confrontation, you can help your whole family successfully adapt to a post-divorce lifestyle.