If we are together, nothing is impossible. If we are divided, all will fail.
– Winston Churchill
Okay, so we may not be talking about the survival of western civilization, but the survival of our individual families is no less at risk if we don’t find ways to work together.
In the day-to-day hubbub of life, it is easy to get caught up in all our have-to’s and to view our parenting as one more task on our never-ending “to-do” list. But if we can take a step back and look at the bigger picture, we can see that underlying it all is the quality of our relationships with our parenting partners and our children. When we work together, we can garner support, overcome obstacles, and grow in the process.
Some things you can do to build these parenting relationships include:
- Make time to talk (in private, not in front of the kids) about parenting issues.
- Work to understand the other person’s viewpoint and reasons behind their beliefs.
- Try to work out a compromise that meets everyone’s needs.
- If not, you can agree to disagree. If the disagreement is over a less important issue, you can have two sets of rules – for example, if a child is generally a good eater, then you may say, “When mom is in charge, no treats before dinner. When dad is in charge, you can have one.”
- If the issue is more important, you can choose to select one method and agree to support each other. This works particularly well if an issue is more important to one partner than the other.
- Watch our two-part narrated presentation on Team Parenting on our website. Click here>
By Deb Cohen
Certified Parenting Educator
