There may have been one or multiple issues that led to your decision to divorce. Such issues may involve your children. In fact, many Pennsylvania spouses cite parenting disagreements as causal factors toward their marital break-ups. Getting divorced, however, doesn’t guarantee that all your co-parenting problems will disappear. In fact, your divorce may spark new ones, especially if you have an uncooperative ex who refuses to adhere to the terms of your parenting agreement.
You can be proactive to protect your parental rights and your children’s best interests. If you know where to seek support when problems arise, you are already ahead of the game. In addition to tapping into such resources as needed, you may want to keep several helpful ideas in mind as well.
Determine your priorities
Divorce has an impact on children, no question about it. However, just because you no longer wished to remain married to your co-parent, this in no way means you are looking to abdicate your parental obligations. A means to avoiding post-divorce parenting disputes is to make a list of your priorities and have your ex do the same, then compare notes.
Avoid constant squabbling
It likely won’t do your kids any good if they always see you and their other parent at odds over issues that pertain to them. Your ex might grate on your nerves, and you might have legitimate cause to be upset about things that went wrong in your marriage; however, you can help your children fare better after divorce if you choose your battles wisely and try to let the rest of what bothers you go.
Determining whether something is a valid legal problem or just something that irks you is key to knowing when to take action and when to look the other way.
Agree to interact regarding your children, only
If you and your ex can’t even be in the same room without re-hashing old fights or going toe-to-toe about personal issues, you may want to agree to only talk to each other concerning matters that directly involve your kids. It is better to focus your conversations on specific issues that are relevant to your children’s custody, visitation, support, health, education, etc. than to bring up old problems or find reasons to criticize each other’s parenting style.
When you need outside support
If you are having trouble rising above the emotional turmoil of your divorce, you are definitely not the only Pennsylvania spouse who has felt this way. That is why there are so many licensed counselors who specialize in post-divorce family support. You can talk to someone if you’re struggling. You can also access legal support if you need it, especially if the problem at hand is undermining your parental rights or impeding your parent/child relationship with your kids.