What are some of the tasks associated with establishing new parental roles following divorce?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Some parental tasks associated with establishing new parental roles following divorce include (Graham, 2004):
- Forming new relationships with children that do not include ongoing input, support, and the collaboration from the other parent. Even in the best of circumstances where both parents are actively involved in the children's lives, one parent is still absent from the home.
- Creating a working business relationship with the former spouse that ensures successful completion of childrearing tasks, such as helping children with homework, taking them to after-school activities, or taking them to doctor or dentist appointments.
- Establishing methods of discipline that do not rely on the other parent's input or aid.
- Developing a parenting plan. The parenting plan outlines the rights and responsibilities of each parent and establishes an appropriate working relationship between the parents (for issues regarding the children's health, education, and well being).
- Communicating clearly and accurately to the other parent those things that are taking place in the child's life. At the forefront of such communication are the child's emotional stability and the protection of the child's best interests. Making these the priority of communication minimizes the children's exposure to ongoing parental conflict and minimizes the temptation to drag the child into the parents' battles.
It is beyond question that any exit of one member from the family system disrupts the balance of the entire system. However, if proper care and attention are given to the re-establishment of parental roles following divorce, over time the family will re-establish itself, it will find balance again-a new balance, a reorganized balance.