Back-to-School after Divorce: What Parents Can Learn from Teachers, Part 2
The way you and your ex handle co-parenting after your divorce can have a significant impact on your child’s life, and one place where how you are handling your divorced situation can make or break your child’s success is school. In the last post of our “Back-to-School after Divorce” blog series, we offer some more advice for divorced parents from the teachers who see first-hand how what you are doing impacts your child:
- Be there. Support your child’s extracurricular activities. Go to their sports events and fine art exhibits. Show your child that they are a priority in their parents’ lives. Show them that both of you are proud of them. At the very least, one of you should be at every event.
- Be consistent with schoolwork rules. You don’t have to have the exact same parenting style, but when it comes to schoolwork, different sets of rules can hurt their academic performance. Come to an agreement on rules about homework and projects and enforce them.
- Do not lie to your children about how you’re doing. Being honest about your emotional state with your kids is a key factor in facilitating an open and honest relationship, especially because your kids can tell when something is wrong. If they see you as miserable but you tell them your fine, they can see that you are lying to them.
- Do not put down the other parent. Your child is half of both of you and constantly bad-mouthing the other parent, or speaking negatively toward each other, in front your child can hurt them emotionally and teach them to pit one parent against the other for their own advantage.
- Recognize that divorce makes school days harder. Ideally, as parents you would realize that having a child split their time between both parents’ houses during a single school week adds unnecessary stress to their life, but such living arrangements exist, and so it is important for parents to make an extra effort to ensure their child is prepared for the next school day/week.
Divorces involving children are the most difficult, but it is important for both parents to realize that their child should not be punished for their mistakes. Regardless of how you feel about your spouse, you need to put the best interests of your children first. At Nottage and Ward, our Chicago child custody attorneys can help you obtain a divorce agreement that is best for you and your family. Call us today for a consultation at (312) 332-2915.
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