Trouble Coparenting During Quarantine? Here’s What to Do

The Covid-19 pandemic has already changed our lives in many ways. Sadly, many parents have been reluctant to share their recent struggles, which can be even greater when sharing custody of their children. If you’re having trouble coparenting during quarantine, here’s what to do to improve the experience for yourself and everyone involved. 

Tips for Coparenting During Quarantine

Coparenting can be tricky under the best of circumstances. Many parents now find themselves facing a unique set of challenges when it comes to sharing custody of their children with the other parent during quarantine or shelter-in-place orders. 

When it comes to your parenting priorities during the pandemic, health is obviously an important consideration. Beyond staying safe and healthy, however, you might also be struggling to handle the emotional aspects of quarantine—a fact made worse if you’re dealing with a narcissistic ex. 

To the point, emphasizing the following actions can help everyone during this difficult time: 

• Commit to Being Flexible – Between your work schedule and your children’s school, sports, and other commitments, it can be difficult to stay on top of everything. Practicing clear communication and flexibility not only with your ex’s expectations but those of your children can decrease everyone’s stress. 

• Practice Candor – Being honest about your commitments and your capability to meet them is always a good practice; this advice, however, is even truer during the pandemic. When you’re working from home and your schedule is changing constantly, being honest about this fact with your former partner will only benefit the both of you in the short-term. 

• Formalize Temporary Changes – When changes to your schedule conflict with your previous agreement for shared custody, it’s best to document these changes in writing so there’s no surprises. Having an experienced family lawyer draft up an agreement can help both parties to get on the same page. 

• Put Safety First – As the country begins to open back up, it’s important to keep in mind that the virus still poses a health hazard to our communities. If your child is spending a lot of time going back and forth between both parents, keeping a stock of hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and face masks on hand can help mitigate the threat of the virus. 

Narcissistic Coparenting—What To Do

Dealing with a narcissistic person can further complicate your coparenting arrangement. Narcissistic people have the tendency to make any situation about themselves, and this can be especially problematic when they attempt to remove you from the coparenting picture while using the pandemic to justify their actions. 

The best way to deal with this problem is to remind your ex-partner of their responsibilities in the coparenting arrangement—appealing to other reasons is often futile when it comes to dealing with a narcissistic parent. 

If you need help dealing with a difficult coparenting arrangement during the pandemic, an experienced family lawyer in Southern California can help. The Law Office of Laurence J. Brock is trusted to handle even the most complicated coparenting arrangements and can help you make sense of your situation. 

Call 909-466-7661 or fill out the form below to schedule a priority consultation.