Even the most drama-free divorces can come with miscommunication, especially when it comes to co-parenting. When your children live in two different houses, it’s easy to drop dates, times, and other specifics. If you and your ex-spouse had a particularly tough divorce, then communication is even harder. You want what’s best for your kids, and you want mess-free communication. That’s where co-parenting apps come in and are usually ordered if one party requests communication through a parenting app.
With co-parenting apps (such as AppClose and OUR FAMILY WIZARD), you and your ex-spouse can share information about the kids, keep up with games and appointments, and generally communicate with each other in a simple and civil way. Currently, the AppClose co-parenting app is free and the other app has a yearly fee of approximately $100.00 per party.
Keep Your Information in One Location
You’ve written down the date of your child’s dentist appointment on one calendar. Your ex-spouse has written down the date of a sleepover in another. Meanwhile, you’re both asking your child to communicate these things back and forth.
You can take the pressure off yourselves and your child by using a co-parenting app. Most of these apps come with shared calendars. Instead of putting that dentist appointment reminder in your own telephone calendar, you can put it directly into a calendar that you share with your child’s other parent. This way, all your information stays organized, and you can avoid being taken by surprise.
Avoid Arguments with Added Features
For weeks or even months after your divorce, you and your ex-spouse will both be dealing with wounds that haven’t quite healed yet. As a result, arguments can pop up easily, even over the most mundane things. Some co-parenting apps help alleviate tension so that you can avoid these stressful arguments.
Take the OurFamilyWizard app, for example, which has an extra feature called a “ToneMeter.” This feature “works a little like a spellchecker, picking up on negative tones in a message,” explains Claire Gillespie in an article for Parents magazine. The feature then offers “an alternative that’s less likely to cause an argument.”
Add People for Whole-Family Communication
You and your former spouse may not be the only people involved in your child’s schedule. Sometimes, a child’s grandparent, nanny, or another caregiver may need scheduling information, too. For that matter, if your child is a teenager, they might take some ownership over their own schedule. Likewise, you might share information with a mediator or therapist. Can a co-parenting app still help in these situations? Absolutely. Some co-parenting apps let you add multiple users. They often have organizational features such as color-coding so that you can keep track more easily.
Looking for More Advice?
There’s nothing easy about going through a divorce. That’s why you need someone on your side who will fight for your family’s rights. If you’re looking for legal counsel, talk to us at Moran Law today. Our team is here to help.