There is a saying, “I’ve got your back”
It’s about protecting someone, looking after them and supporting them in the areas they are weak in. As a parent, have you got your partner’s or ex partner’s back when it comes to your children? Or, do your children manipulate you playing one off against the other?
As parents living in the same household, it can we be difficult deciding who has what? How much screen time, or what a child can watch, is a program suitable? Along with that, to then support your partner even if you don’t believe what they say, but do so to present a united front.
As a non-resident parent it gets even harder at my house with my rules. What my ex-wife may see as standardly being restricted I may not. What I see as giving a child responsibility and accountability she says not caring or letting my children have their own way.
Being supportive and giving the same consistent message is important. But how can you do that when you don’t believe a message is right? How do you ensure your rules are maintained in your household as well as being consistent with the concept of joint parenting?
I don’t know the best answer but it is about being consistent and about how you apply rules, not what those rules are. You cannot be a soft touch or the “gullible one”, but it is important to be mindful that you still need to be able to talk with your ex for the best interest of the children.
Married, together or not do you have your partners back when it comes to being consistent with your children, not rules about how specific bedtimes are or how much TV you can watch? It is important to consider rules that build character, lifestyle doing homework before reading, reading a book before going to sleep… Using good manners.
It is also about supporting the punishment when the rules are broken. If one says you can’t see a particular film at the cinema this week and then on a visit you take your child to see that film, sometimes the person’s punishment may seem like a punishment to get the parent not the child.
Often these problems come down to one word- communication: an ability to talk to a parent and not take it personally.
Strip out the emotion and be consistent
Sometimes I wish someone would have given me the rules. Would I have done a better job? Probably … but would I be in the place I am now with the joyful experiences I have had? NO.
With joint parenting, sometimes having a partner’s back even when you hate what they may have done to you…. is about being the better person and learning and growing… Stripping out emotion, being consistent and thinks children first .
Till Next Week
The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the blogger and do not necessarily represent the views of Dad.info.
