Many Pennsylvania parents argue about their kids. When the arguments occur in relation to divorce, things can get messy. In fact, in some situations, ex-spouses can barely be in the same room together.
Constant conflict between parents is not likely to help children cope with divorce. Parents may have kids’ best interests in mind, but do not necessarily have the ability to peacefully co-parent together. The good news is that there is another option when former spouses trying to move on in life are having difficulty avoiding high levels of stress in their co-parenting plans. Those who encounter such challenges may want to try parallel parenting instead.
Parallel parenting helps keep stress between ex-spouses to a minimum, mainly by allowing them to co-parent from a distance. With this style of parenting, co-parents intentionally have as little in-person interaction with each other as possible. Communication is limited to written correspondence, typically through text messages, email or instant chat apps.
When custody exchanges take place after a contentious divorce, those who agree to parallel parenting plans may want to ask a third party to supervise the in-person exchanges. It is also a good idea to schedule the exchanges at neutral locations rather than personal residences. Terms for a parallel parenting plan can be incorporated into a court-approved custody agreement. Any Pennsylvania parent who wishes to learn more about parallel parenting can request a consultation with an experienced family law attorney. An attorney can explain the process and help overcome any obstacles that happen to arise while parents are test-driving this alternative to traditional co-parenting.