After your divorce, you and your ex-spouse may still need to work together to raise your child. It should be both of your goals to have a positive co-parenting relationship because being able to work together means that you’ll be better able to help your child as they get older.
It is sometimes hard for people to work through their issues and to have a good relationship after a divorce, but it’s imperative that you try. How can you? Here are three ideas.
- Put the focus back on your child
To start with, you should put the focus on your child. What do they need, and how can you best give it to them? Avoid conflicts, which can stress children, and focus on communicating with the other parent instead of through your child.
- Become an active listener
Another thing to do is to become an active listener. You should always listen to what the other person is saying. If you find yourself interrupting, you’re not listening. Once you hear what the other parent has to say about your child or a particular child custody issue you’re having, take a few moments to think about how you want to respond.
- Let go of your history
This is often easier said than done, but you should focus on letting go of your past. If you and your ex-spouse broke up because you grew apart or because you hated their work schedule, that’s all in the past now. You need to focus on doing what is good for your child. Building a positive relationship with your ex, even if that is just a relationship where you can tolerate each other, is a step in the right direction.
It can be difficult to have a co-parenting relationship when you are hurt from the end of your relationship, but you need to try. Your child deserves to have an opportunity to get to know both parents and to spend time with your both as well, so focus on making that possible and as positive of an experience as you can.
