Parents often have higher stakes in divorce situations due to the presence of children. Naturally, both parents want to share involvement in their child’s life, playing an active role and seeing the progression through all major milestones.
While the conflict of divorce can make this a challenge at times, it is also possible to create an arrangement that spares your child from any ongoing quarrels while allowing them to enjoy the support of both parents.
Avoiding in-person contact
Psychology Today discusses ways of making parallel parenting easier on everyone. This technique allows for parents to remain disengaged and separate from one another while both having involved in their child’s life. Direct contact gets limited in this form of parenting, and parents do not need to engage in cooperation often.
Parents must communicate through methods that do not involve in-person contact, first. For example, some choose to have a communication notebook that their child can carry to and from each home location. In the notebook, parents can write a summary of how the visit went. Texts and emails also work for more frequent updates.
Hearings for parallel parenting situations
Parallel parenting is not permanent, however. In fact, the court must review the situation every 180 days, holding a hearing in which they decide what to do. They may continue the order or modify it, or they may even choose to end it. Parallel parenting can temporarily take the place of supervised parenting in its phasing out stages, as well.
Of course, each situation requires different methods of handling and approaching it. This is just one potential option of many.