How do you deal with long-distance co-parenting?

When one member of a divorced couple stays in the military, this can cause complications even for the families with the best structures in place. After all, the parent in active duty must go where the military tells them, potentially relocating hundreds or even thousands of miles from their children for months or years at a time.

In these situations, how do you handle parenting? What is the best way to ensure a healthy relationship even from a long distance apart?

Using technology to communicate

Parents discuss one father’s attempts to keep in close contact with his children despite living miles away. In his attempt to stay as close as possible, he ended up utilizing and relying on technology in various forms. He points out that despite his generation’s aversion to electronic communication over in-person communication, sometimes that is all one has.

To that end, it is important to find a method of communication that works. Not every child uses the same platforms for chatting. Some do not like video calls, while others prefer them. Some may want to speak extensively, while others might only want short check-in conversations at first. It is important to meet them in the middle, striking a level of comfort that they can feel at ease with.

Keeping open communication

Make sure that the child understands they can reach out whenever they need to, too. The great part about technology is that it allows near-constant accessibility for those who open up to it. When a child feels like they can call their parent for any reason or no reason at all, they will likely start to reach out more often.

A combination of technology and meeting your child halfway can go a long way in terms of allowing a relationship to continue healthily, even during military leave.