#Parallel parenting full#

If you and your ex-spouse are harboring a lot of resentment due to the divorce, you may have a difficult time with a traditional co-parenting plan and would benefit from parallel parenting. Keep reading to learn more about it and if it is right for your situation. Through parallel parenting, you and your former spouse can raise your children with minimal interactions and communication with one another. Generally, parallel parenting is designed for exes who endured a high-conflict divorce and cannot co-parent in a more traditional manner. For more information about parental responsibility agreements in California, contact a family law attorney.When it comes to raising children after a divorce, there are many ways to go about the situation. It is up to you and your spouse whether parallel parenting sounds like an agreement you can manage for the best interests of your children. However, it can be ideal for couples that wish to maintain their relationships with children. Parallel parenting may not be right for high conflict couples, since each parent still must agree on parenting styles and parental responsibilities. Eventually you may be able to speak with your spouse without getting into an argument. Only interact with your spouse if you absolutely must вЂ“ at least in the beginning. Try putting aside your personal problems with your soon-to-be-ex spouse and instead focus entirely on parenting. If you and your spouse are struggling to come up with a parental responsibility arrangement and canвЂ™t stop arguing long enough to truly focus on your child or children, you may want to consider the parallel parenting technique. This open, easy method of communication facilitates problem solving and avoids arguments that can harm a child.

Parents donвЂ™t let any hostilities or disputes between each other get in the way of their parenting. Parallel parenting means parents establish a business-like relationship, where their main goal is to raise a child. They also benefit from predictable routines. This style of parenting also makes it clear to the child that both parents are still equally important regardless of hostility between them.ДЄccording to the Judicial Branch of California, children benefit when parents can avoid conflict, physical violence, and emotional abuse. Parallel parenting eliminates children from direct exposure to conflict, helping them cope with the divorce and develop healthily into young adulthood. It protects children from parental conflict and prevents them from ending up in the middle of a parental fight.

Parallel parenting is often better for a childвЂ™s mental and emotional wellbeing than the alternatives вЂ“ separation from one parent or being around fighting parents all the time. Parallel parenting lets parents that do not get along with each other avoid hostilities and focus instead on the children. The only way parallel parenting works successfully is if both parents stick to their end of the original agreement. Eventually, parents can achieve cooperative parenting despite a divorce. Over time, parallel parenting allows the dust to settle between parents. Parallel parenting lets a child remain in communication and contact with both parents without suffering from parents yelling or arguing with one another. In most parallel parenting situations, however, parents both agree on major life decisions regarding a childвЂ™s upbringing but decide separately about day-to-day activities and routines.

#Parallel parenting full#

For example, one parent may have full authority over big decisions such as where a child goes to school, while the other has more control over day-to-day parenting. Parents in these situations often share joint parental responsibilities in a divorce, although the types of responsibilities each spouse has may vary. Parallel parenting works by parents disengaging from one another but remaining fully connected to children.

Focus on What Matters Most вЂ“ The Children Parallel parenting is often the only way to co-parent when parents are not amiable with one another after a divorce. They parent in parallel lines, both focused on the child but never intersecting one other. Parallel parenting is a parental responsibility arrangement (previously called вЂњcustody agreementвЂќ) in which divorced parents co-parent by disengaging from each other and having limited contact when they are unable to communicate in a respectful manner. If your divorce case involves minor children, you may encounter the phrase вЂњparallel parentingвЂќ somewhere along the way.