Ex-etiquette: How to co-parent your kids when you can’t stand your ex

Some co-parents may do a great job of working together, but spending holidays together just doesn’t work for them. Photo: TNS/Dreamstime

Reading your column, it is obvious that you are an advocate of both parents spending time together with the children after a breakup. I have no desire to spend time with my ex. We bring out the worst in each other and I don’t want the kids to see that. So, if you can’t or don’t want to, what is good ex-etiquette?

Jann Blackstone: I’m an advocate of cooperative co-parenting. That does not necessarily mean spending time together. Some co-parents may do a great job of working together, but spending holidays together just doesn’t work for them. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few reasons why spending time together after a breakup is not a good idea – beginning with the impression it gives the kids. Just about every child I have worked with wants their parents to reconcile, but it is often not in the cards.