After getting through a tough divorce, you may want to focus on the positives and take care of your children. When your co-parent becomes frustrating to talk to, this could make it hard to do.
Thankfully, there are some ways to help you both relax and communicate respectfully.
Learn to find your calm
According to Psychology Today, your first instinct when dealing with a stressful conversation may be to yell back at your co-parent or escalate the argument. Learning to breathe deeply and center yourself before responding can help you to let go of the excess emotion and focus on the facts.
This response can help you to avoid getting drawn into pointless arguments before they even start, which can help your communication improve.
Set clear boundaries
If you find your co-parent ignoring the schedule you both set or constantly trying to contact you, you may not know how to react. Being clear and direct about when he or she can talk to you is one way to strengthen your boundaries and feel confident.
Staying firm and not backing down when your co-parent tries to intimidate is another way to accomplish this. Learning to ignore his or her insults and attempts to start a fight can help you to stay focused on child custody topics only.
Communicate formally
Typing out important messages in a text or an email may help you communicate in a direct and formal way since you can control and edit your tone and the content of the message. This also leaves you a written copy of what you both say, in case you need to reference it later on.
Knowing these strategies can help you and your co-parent work better together as a team.