If you and the mother of your children do not live together for whatever reason, co-parenting is the best way to stay involved in your little ones’ lives. They will look forward to seeing you during scheduled visits. Seeing their smiles light up whenever they see you is something you will continue to cherish as they grow up.
Here’s how you can be the best dad you can be when co-parenting! This is a skill that takes time to refine and can get stressful at times. When you need a “me-time” break, play Casino777 Roulette online.
Collaboration Is Key
You and the mother of your children are on the same mission to be involved in your children’s lives and help them grow into responsible adults. Collaborating is the key to success in a co-parenting relationship.
Work together to find the times that are best for the kids to come with you to your home at least once or twice. Ask each other what different family outings you have planned for the children, whether it’s attending a seasonal festival, visiting an aquarium, or going to a family picnic during the weekend. If you have a close co-parenting relationship, you can both be present at these family outings to make them more enjoyable for the children.
Find Time to Spend With the Kids Outside of Scheduled Visit Days
You can find time to spend with the kids in many ways outside of scheduled visit days. Ask your children’s mother about the kids’ schedules.
What times do they go to school (if you have multiple children in different grades)? Does she need help to pick them up and take them to extracurricular activities after school throughout the week? If your work schedule allows and you both live close enough to one another, you can help with this!
Does your son have a football game coming up, or is your daughter’s next ballet recital happening soon? Keep updated with the kids’ social activities, so you can show up and be a part of the experience.
Maintain a Regular Visitation Schedule
If you decide to have the kids over to your place for a sleepover on the first and third Saturday of every month, be sure to keep this as the regular schedule. Kids thrive off of consistency because they will know what to expect on those specific days of the month.
Now, if you or one of the children gets sick, reschedule the sleepover for another time. If unexpected occurrences such as sickness happen, then mom and dad should be open to flexibility for rescheduling so that the kids still get time with dad.
Have Open Communication
Never ask the children to deliver messages between mom and dad. This shows disrespect and passive-aggressive behavior in the co-parenting relationship.
Communicate with one another often. With mom as the custodial parent, remind her to update you about the kids’ doctors’ appointments, if they get sick, or if an emergency entails an Urgent Care or hospital visit.
Keep mom in the loop when you have the kids at your home. If she has questions about how they are doing while they are in your care (if they do not have cell phones), let her know what they were up to during that day.
Conclusion
Co-parenting is not a walk in the park at first. It can feel weird to co-parent with an ex-boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse you were once intimately close to but are not so. However, you must put aside past feelings to do what is best for the children: be there for them as their father!
Featured Image by Melissa Liner from Pixabay
