Co-Parenting: When Parents Disagree On How To Raise a Child Tips On Conflict Resolutions For Spouses

Many times when people fall in love they find that their significant other is quite opposite of them and this makes the relationship balanced and interesting.

Let's say that "Jen" and "Joe" met in college, dated for several years and then decided to tie the knot and get married.

After several years of building up their wealth, going on vacations and having the time of their life together, Jen announces that she is pregnant.

The tears of joy flow like a wild river and the couple can't wait to tell everyone they know their good news!

As the next 9 months go by, Jen realizes that while talking to Joe, they have very different styles of parenting as they grew up in totally different homes as children themselves.

Jen's water breaks and before they know it, Mr. and Mrs. Joe are the proud parents of a new baby!

After a few days of testing and observation they go home and settle the baby, the new life they created, and then that's when things start to change in what was once a great marriage...

You can not force someone to agree with you and the harder you try, the more stressful the situation becomes. As humans in general, different opinions make life interesting and less monotonous.

It is great to have different opinions but when it comes to parenting and raising a family, things can get ugly! So are there ways to compromise? Let's Look at some ideas for when you can't agree on something and how to solve conflicts:

• Open Communication is the most important aspect of successful parenting. Communicating with your significant other as well as your children can help ease disagreements and makes the family home environment safe and stable. Always keep your communication positive and respectful.
• Respecting Your Spouse and Children is important during an argument or disagreement. Respect your spouse by not raising your voice and never swear at them or try to use "guilt trips". This adds stress to the relationship and pushes you further from conflict resolution. You can respect your children by not arguing in front of them and never blame them for your parental arguments.
• Write Down a Plan when you don't agree with a specific parenting methods. Make 2 columns and title them "Good" and "Bad" aspects of each other's point of view. Sometimes seeing it in writing rather than hearing it can make someone realize that there are alternatives to their original point of view.
• Polling Friends and Family can be helpful as long as it doesn't create separate "teams". If you have friends and family that will give you a non-biased answer, seek out whatever advice they may have for coming to a conclusion.
• Search Parenting Resources has become quite easy over the last decade. There are many popular books written on parenting and there is no shortage of articles that discuss parenting issues on the Internet. Don't be embarrassed when looking for parenting materials! No one get's a life handbook when we are born and some of us grew up with "bad" parents or no parents at all. We make our own decisions in life and when we do research, we tend to make better decisions!
• Seek Professional Help. Seeing a family therapist is a great way to learn how to work together to compromise and learn new ways to be a better parent. Seeking the advice from a registered councilor that is trained in family mediation can be rewarding. These types of professionals take a non-biased point of view and often can offer useful tips that can help you and your spouse.

These are just a few ideas and basics for coming together when making parenting decisions. Respect goes a long way during conflict resolution and couples should avoid yelling, getting physical and arguing in front of their children. If your situation gets bad you should consider going for professional help. Never allow your children or yourself to be in a relationship where you are afraid and don't feel safe. Someday your children may become parents. Take the opportunity to teach them how to be a good parent by being one yourself!

The following articles address different issues that parents and children deal with at different stages in their life. Look for some ways that can help your family maintain stability and order by setting up a strong foundation.

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