You and your ex-spouse may have agreed the best thing for your child would be to co-parent them after your divorce. It’s a logical step when keeping the well-being of your child in mind. Many parents can work with a co-parent for their child with ease – others, however, may struggle to keep up their parental obligations.
When parenting, you want to know that your child is getting all the help and care they need to grow. It can be frustrating to find your child struggling at home or school. You may notice a few signs that can indicate you’re working with a co-parent who doesn’t know what they are doing. You should watch for this:
Your co-parent is keeping information from you
There’s a lot that happens in your child’s life that you want to be involved in. They may have a family picture day you want to take part in. They may have a playdate with a new friend. They may have just gotten their grades.
All of these and more are things you should know as a parent that your co-parent failed to tell you. Recurring issues of forgetfulness (deliberate or accidental) can make it hard to keep up with what’s happening in your child’s world.
Your co-parent is criticizing you to your child
Your co-parent may badmouth you in front of your child because they resent your divorce. Your co-parent may blame you for not keeping the family under one roof. They may personally attack you by destroying the trust your kid has for you.
Your child’s mental health can be harshly affected by the way they receive their information. If they believe you were to blame for your divorce they may have frequent outbursts, disrespect or anger toward you.
It’s never a good feeling to find your child is being negatively affected because your co-parent isn’t being cooperative with you or your parenting plan. You may need to know your options when looking to resolve issues with a co-parent.
