1. Minimize conflict. Conflict in divorce is natural. Unfortunately, this conflict can destabilize a child's environment. Commit to minimizing conflict by agreeing not to fight in front of the children and to resolve issues through mediation instead of litigation. 2. Avoid casting the other parent in negative light. Regardless of your personal feelings about your ex, they remain your child's parent. Be respectful of that relationship by avoiding the urge to demonize the other parent or denigrate the love and affection they have for your child. If you cannot bear to say something nice, at least keep it neutral. 3. Maintain a united front. Rules may differ between households, but maintaining a united front regarding the need to respect the other parent's rules at their home adds some consistency to your co-parenting relationship that is comforting to your child. 4. Give your child space. You're not the only ones going through the divorce. Your child is too. Allow your child space to adjust to their new family situation: space for gathering their thoughts through journaling, therapy, or quiet time, privacy when they're communicating with your ex (no eavesdropping or interrogating the child about phone conversations) and the freedom to experience their own feelings about the situation. 5. Be flexible. The most successful co-parents are flexible co-parents. Life happens - and that may require changes to schedules and plans. Offering good will in the form of flexibility to meet the other parents requests for schedule changes yields good will to your requests. Being respectful of the other parent's time by keeping requests for changes to a minimum further builds good will. |
MLG LAW GROUP 121 West Wacker Drive Suite 1404 Chicago, IL. 60601 http://www.mlglawgroupillinois.com/ #letsguide How do you prove a parent unfit in Illinois? How do I prove the other parent is unfit? Abandonment. Habitual substance abuse problems. Physical or emotional abuse. Mental illness or instability. Putting the children in an unsafe living environment. Being incarcerated. Not being interested in the children's welfare. Neglect.
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