After going through a divorce, cooperating with your ex-spouse might be one of the last things you want to do. Unfortunately, as a parent, your child depends on your ability to cooperate with one another.
Fortunately, you have several options available when it comes to protecting your child while also limiting contact with your co-parent. Parallel parenting serves as one of these options, and a popular one at that.
How parallel parenting benefits everyone
Psychology Today examines parallel parenting and the positive effects it can have after a split. Of course, in the aftermath of a divorce, you should always prioritize the safety, well-being, happiness and stability of your child at all costs. Most courts will agree that some form of joint custody will often serve in your child’s best interest.
Parallel parenting allows you to reap some of the benefits of joint custody without the downside of having direct contact with one another. Through parallel parenting, co-parents speak strictly through text or writing communication and avoid in-person meetings or even conversing over the phone.
Text-based communications
You can choose to communicate through email, text messages or third-party messaging applications on your phone. You can also choose to write messages in a notebook and send it back with your child when they return from visitations. Many parents use this as a method of documenting and reporting on how visitations went without having to discuss it directly.
This provides your child with the support and stability of a two-parent household. At the same time, it protects them from the possibility of seeing their parents get into ugly arguments, so it benefits them in multiple ways.