Thursday, January 03, 2008

Grrrrrr -- the abridged post

Some ground rules for custody and single parenting:
  1. Your child needs time with the other parent, and the custody agreement protects that time.
  2. Every communication is vaguely like walking on eggshells. The slightest slip, everything breaks, and you're headed right into the same old anger and miscommunication.
  3. You need your child to trust you, and to be able to talk to you when something questionable has happened.
  4. You need to make sure nothing poisons how the other parent talks about you to your child.

Remember these and bite your tongue, because one of the most difficult aspects of custody, divorce, and single parenting is dealing with a co-parent who doesn't do their part in parenting the child the way you would like. Bite your tongue.