Should You Buy Duplicates Of Children’s Belongings For Successful Co-Parenting?

Having to move constantly between two parents’ houses is stressful for children; at worst, it can make them feel like nowhere is really their home, as much as their parents might insist otherwise. At worst, it can turn into the parents competing with each other to create a home environment that is superficially more comfortable, but kids can see through the act; they know when their parents are insecure. The best thing you can do is spend your parenting time according to your own values; don’t let it bother you that your ex’s house is spotless or that your ex is more easygoing about your kids doing normal, annoying kid stuff, while you have a short temper. You will eventually settle into a routine, unless it is always being interrupted by calls and texts from your ex about how you must come to your ex’s house immediately to deliver an item that your child left at your house. Planning is the best defense against these disruptions, and it starts with a court-ordered parenting plan. For help drafting a parenting plan that does not give you and your ex an easy way to antagonize each other, contact a Birmingham child custody lawyer.

Is It Really About Your Child’s Soccer Cleats, Or Is Your Ex Just Trying to Control You?

When you are co-parenting according to a court-ordered parenting plan, you are always acutely aware of how little time you get to spend with your children each year, and you are determined to make every minute count. This is much harder to do when, just as you spread out the beach blanket, your ex texts you to say that your child left his school computer at your ex’s house, so you must come to retrieve it so your child can bring the computer to school tomorrow. Maybe you are on a first date when your ex calls you from soccer practice to say that your child left her soccer cleats at your house. Often, it turns into an argument about whose responsibility it is to remember or whose responsibility it is to transport the missing item. Sometimes you feel like your ex is doing this on purpose, just to stop you from finding a new normal after your divorce.

Buying Duplicates Can Buy Peace of Mind

One solution is simply to buy duplicates of the possessions that are so important that transporting them is worth interrupting one parent’s parenting time. It might be worthwhile to spend the money if it will save you the stress of being at your ex-spouse’s beck and call.

Embrace a Parent-Child Relationship That Isn’t About Stuff

With some items, the best solution is to live without them until your child next sees your ex. This especially applies if the device has a screen. Being the parent who refuses to retrieve an iPad or PlayStation may not win you points with your children in the short term, but eventually your whole family will appreciate that you stood your ground.

Contact Peeples Law About Co-Parenting Disputes Great and Small

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you draft a parenting plan that will enable you to weather the challenges of co-parenting.  Contact Peeples Law in Birmingham, Alabama today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

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