Learning to parent with someone else can be difficult. You have different personalities and you may come from different backgrounds. Instead of becoming frustrated with one another, learning to parent together is essential for maintaining a peaceful home. Experts at Kids In The House explain that working together as parents, whether you are still together or divorced, is crucial to successfully raising your children.
Rabbi Hirsch tells parents they don’t have to parent in exactly the same way, they just have to parent in supportive ways of one another. She explains, “I partner with this guy that I love dearly, but sometimes I want to strangle him. He's a great parent to my children, just a different parent than me.” No matter how different you may be from your spouse, co-parenting is possible. Sometimes it’s hard to depend on your spouse, but it can make all the difference in being successful parents.
Furthermore, lifestyle expert Samantha Ettus encourages men and women to turn their spouses into partners. This means really working together and coordinating your time to benefit your marriage and your children. She urges couples to spend time together planning the week and making sure both parents are part of the children’s schedules. She also explains the importance of strengthening your marriage. “I always like to say that you really have to nurture your marriage because if you are not nurturing your marriage, there is less motivation for your spouse to be a good partner,” says Ettus.
Unfortunately, parenting can be hard for divorced couples especially when the divorce has not gone well. Working together through a divorce is particularly important in creating stability for your children. If you are unable to get along with your ex-spouse, psychologist Katherine Sellwood suggests a parallel parenting style. While this it not an ideal situation, it is better for parents to work alongside each other rather than with each other. Sellwood says that with this parenting style “there is minimal contact with the other parent as much as possible.” This will create more stability for the child and they won’t have to be constantly subjected to their parents fighting with one another.
And, no matter what your parenting style, Kids In The House encourages all parents to empower their children to end bullying. We recently launched an #ENDBULLYING campaign to help parents and children empower the world to be better. Check out our video and expert advice on how you can make a difference!
