The romantic relationship between you and your former spouse just wasn’t working out. After several efforts to get things back on track, you both realized that it was never going to happen. Divorce was the only feasible option left, so you went down that path.
Thankfully, while there were challenges, divorce negotiations went relatively smoothly. The family has now moved on to the next chapter in life.
You’re feeling rather anxious about making the custody arrangement work with your co-parent. Fortunately, it’s possible for you to both make it work. Just because the romantic side of your relationship broke down, that doesn’t mean you both can’t continue to be fantastic parents. Outlined below are a few things to keep in mind.
Ensure that the parenting plan is thorough
As you and your former spouse remained amicable, you were able to come up with a custody arrangement together. The court signed off on this as it appeared to meet the best interests of the child. However, if there are factors that you have forgotten, it may be possible to make modifications to the custody order. It’s better to be thorough with the custody order as early as possible than deal with issues as they come up. For instance, if you found co-parenting challenging during the holidays this year, what changes could be made to the parenting plan to make next year less stressful?
Avoid playing favorites
Disputes are bound to come up from time to time, but it’s how you and your co-parent deal with these that’s important. One thing that you should both avoid at all costs is putting your children in the middle of disputes. They shouldn’t be forced to choose one parent over the other. The custody arrangement has been put in place so that everyone, including the children, know where they stand. Not to mention that it is also legally binding.
Successful co-parenting relies on effective communication. If your current custody arrangement is not working out, seek some legal guidance to find out whether or not it can be modified.