Let’s face it—it’s hard enough to communicate when parents get along and live in the same house. Keeping up with the house, the jobs, the children, and all the activities stretches parents thin. Add strained relationships and living apart—the difficulty communicating increases exponentially. Finding a good system leads the way to helping co-parents communicate constructively.
The challenge of communicating
Court orders and parenting plans often require parents to share information regarding their children. How can parents make sure they, at minimum, comply with their duties?
Even more, how can they work to ensure both parents remain significantly involved? Especially with the deluge of communication coming from all sides.
One mom recounted that, in one week, she received over 60 messages from the school where her 4 children attended. Plus, messages from teams, scouts, and parents inviting kids to parties. With the deluge of emails, texts, voicemails, GroupMe, and other communications—how can parents keep up?
Great tools for communicating constructively
Apps like 2 Houses or Our Family Wizard provide parents a huge assist!
2 houses was created for divorced parents who don’t communicate well and receives rave reviews even from parents who communicate easily. It becomes the one-stop shop for information—and organizes the information so that parents easily find what they are looking for.
Our Family Wizard is a bit more oriented toward court proceedings so can have a more adversarial feel, but offers organized communication as well. Features of both include:
Calendar
Parents use the calendar for all children’s events (school plays, games, doctor appointments, and birthday parties). This fulfills any legal obligation to inform the other parent and keeps both parents aware of what is happening with children.
More, if you get the invitation for a birthday party, but the party is during the other parent’s parenting time—the second parent doesn’t have to search through texts, voicemails, or emails to find the address. They can go to 2 houses and easily see where to take your child. No matter who gets the notice, you know when parent-teacher conferences happen, the opening night for the play, or what field to find the soccer game.
Messaging
2 houses focuses on providing ease of communication. If you find yourself rattled when you ex’s name shows up on a text or just overwhelmed by the timing of communication, 2 houses helps.
Instead of being blasted by texts or voicemails, you get a notice to check 2 houses for a message from the other parent. For parents who need some time to prepare to communicate, the notice gives a bit of buffer. You can wait until you are ready to read the message and respond well.
Even for parents who communicate well, the themed strands organize conversations for easy reference. One strand may detail back-to-school requirements, another holds communications regarding soccer, and a third the plans for an upcoming birthday party. For on-the-run parents, the information is in one, easy-to-access place.
Financial records
The section offers spaces for expenditures and receipts to create a record for back-to-school costs, healthcare, controlled, and other expenses. For parents using a joint account or sharing expenses, this provides easy documentation for money spent on children.
Health care records
This section offers a place to record results when one parent takes a child to a health-related appointment. You can note special instructions like, “Mary was diagnosed with strep throat and given an antibiotic. It needs to be refrigerated and taken on an empty stomach.” Both parents are up to speed on what needs to happen during their parenting time and can easily go back for reference.
Photos
When you take vacations or special trips with the school, you can share photos via 2 houses. Both parents gain connection to the special moments of their children.
Constructive communication eases co-parenting
Whatever you use—finding a tool to organize communication and information makes co-parenting easier. Parents get on the same page about what children need and are doing so that they can join forces to support their children.
If you would like more information on navigating divorce with children, contact Resolution Mediation by clicking HERE or calling 317-793-0825. We look forward to serving you.
As always, the above is for information only. Seek a divorce professional for guidance in your personal situation.
