Back to School Co-Parenting Tips

Going back to school is a big deal for any child each year. For you, as co-parents, it’s also a stressful time, and it takes some organizing to get through it successfully.

Life after divorce is often complicated, especially in the beginning. Life with minor children will be even more complicated when trying to figure out all the co-parenting details. Whether you went through your divorce recently or a few years back, it’s still a bit unclear how to better split the time with your kids and how to communicate with your ex-spouse about certain important topics.

Going back to school is a big deal for any child each year. For you, as co-parents, it’s also a stressful time, and it takes some organizing to get through it successfully.

Don’t Exclude the Other Parent from This Event

Even if you have a ton of resentment towards your ex-spouse, your child’s school events must not be affected by them. Your kid still loves both of his parents, and it might really hurt them if you were to exclude the other parent from all the events and activities for going back to school.

Co-parenting is all about being civil and collaborating for the best interest of your child. No parent should consider education as being less than a top priority in the life of their children.

Split Responsibilities and Make It Clear Beforehand

When going back to school, there are a lot of preparations and decisions to make. It’s time to talk to your ex-spouse about them and split the responsibilities between both of you so that no one gets overwhelmed by the number of tasks. You will have to think ahead of everything that will need to be done by you during the school year and who exactly will get to do what.

Make arrangements about emergency pick-up from school, teacher-parent meetings, school supply expenses, extra-curricular activities, etc. All these things should be known from the beginning to avoid conflicts later on the road.

Split Expenses like School Supplies and Other Costs

Even if one of you has custody of your children and the other has visitation rights and pays child support, school supplies should be shared between you. Or you can make an arrangement that works best for you, depending on your case. The important thing is that you lay this issue on the table as early a possible to make sure everything will be paid for and there won’t be any conflict between you because of this.

Share Information All the Time

The key to a happy child when the parents divorce is that you communicate well and collaborate for the greater good: your child’s wellness. Exchange all the important information with your ex-spouse, keep them in the loop and help them be involved.

These tips will not only improve your child’s experience when going back to school, but they will help you and your ex build an effective, mature and responsible co-parenting relationship you will be proud of in the long term. Make sure to follow the court orders first of all, then collaborate for the best results.