Slowly over the coming months some form of ‘normal’ will be restored to our day-to-day lives.
The return to school in early March marked a significant landmark in the country’s battle with Coronavirus. And prospects for the summer holiday period look more promising than we might have imagined in the dark days of January.
During the long lockdown, separated families adapted parenting arrangements as best they could. For a year, restrictions meant many children didn’t see one of their parents for many months on end, for some even longer. Parents made temporary arrangements, and children had to make do with using video conference apps.
Now is the time to rebuild co-parenting arrangements. There is now an opportunity to restore precious relationships beyond WhatsApp and Zoom.
The apps played an important role for separated families as a substitute for real-life, face to face contact. Now co-parenting arrangements can be planned with some confidence.
Recent research showed that parents’ desire to avoid conflict with an ex is the main reason that children lose out on seeing one of their parents. Family mediators are experienced in not only managing and resolving conflict but helping separated families find arrangements that suit everyone.
National Family Mediation (NFM) is offering the opportunity to have a free meeting with a mediator to any parent who is struggling to make arrangements with their ex over the children.
You might want to look at how to make arrangements for school holidays, make financial arrangements such as child maintenance, or work out how best to set up visits to wider family members as restrictions are lifted.
Whatever your concerns about your future parenting responsibilities NFM’s accredited mediators will be able to help you make those crucial decisions for the future.
