The decision to leave a romantic relationship isn’t ever easy. It gets even more complicated when there are children involved. One thing that you must remember when you’re in this position is that your children have to come first.
When you separate from your ex, it’s easy to allow the focus to become making things more difficult for each other. This isn’t in the best interests of the children because they will likely feel the negativity that’s going on. Consider these tips to help you make the most of a parenting relationship during a separation.
Set the schedule
One of the major issues that comes up in the early days of a separation is when the children will spend time with each parent. You and your ex should sit down and come up with a temporary schedule that enables the children to spend time with each of you. A permanent one will be set in the parenting plan, but the steps you take today could set the tone for the future.
Communicate calmly and directly
You and your ex should be able to speak to each other calmly and directly. It may behoove you to think of this as a business relationship instead of a personal one. Never try to have the children relay messages back and forth because this puts them in a bad spot and leaves room for the message to be misstated when they talk to the other parent. Instead, the communication should be between the adults.
Parents should always ensure they do what’s best for their children. When they opt to end their relationship, there’s a chance that the children may suffer. Instead of allowing this to happen, both adults should be proactive and take care of the custody matters as a team. Just because your relationship with each other went sour doesn’t mean that you should constantly fight about everything related to the children.