Coparenting is rarely easy or fun. If you have a relationship like that with your coparent, you’re one of the lucky ones. But even with that, being a coparent is stressful. Being a parent is stressful. But there are plenty of online resources for parents. We’re looking at apps that help the single parents out there. Take a look at these apps and online resources to help you make things easier in the long run.
Shared calendar
A shared calendar, like Google Calendar, will make negotiating time slots a lot easier. Imagine how useful your wall-mounted calendar is at keeping track of all your children’s clubs, visits to grandparents, thriving social life and of course, visiting their co-parent. Wouldn’t that be even more helpful if your co-parent could access it? Wouldn’t it be heavenly if you could update it whenever you need to straight from your phone? That’s the perks of a shared calendar. It can even send them an update when something has been updated, so they’ll know if they’re needed for something.
Shared journal/Message board
Shared journals are usually used a support system for getting your thoughts out, but they can be helpful here. Whenever the children have an appointment with the doctor, dentist, teacher, etc. and the co-parent should be updated on what’s happening, you can add a note here to keep track of everything. A few apps designed specifically for co-parenting have this option so that no important information slips through the cracks when two co-parents aren’t fond of conversing. It is also possible to use a message board app for an instance such as this, for an app option that feels a little less intimate but is still private.
Talking Parents
For example, in that instance you might want to look into Talking Parents. If you’re having issues communicating with your co-parent, Talking Parents is the way to keep things civil. You can call without disclosing your phone number, complete with call recordings and transcripts ready to hand over to a lawyer if needed. Make and request payments and share a calendar and file storage that cannot be altered without record. There is a premium subscription offered, but so many of the app’s features come free that the subscription mostly deals with the issue of paying bit by bit for printed documents. It’s useful if you have ever Googled “divorce lawyers for men” in the past.
Amazon wishlist
Did you know you can share your Amazon wishlist? It makes things so much easier come Christmas when you hear the phrase “But you’re so hard to buy for” and you wonder if your people know you but at all.
When it comes to co-parenting, however, this can be useful. You can keep a wishlist updated with things that need bought for your children, in terms of physical items, however. Just give your coparent some Christmas or birthday ideas or add their football strip or karate outfit as a hint to contribute.
Cozi
Cozi wasn’t necessarily made for the co-parenting landscape, but it has been adopted due to its very handy nature to co-parents. Initially created as a way for everyone in the family to contribute to the shopping list rather than shouting “Mum, we’re out of [insert food here]” and inevitably forgetting the item by the time they’re in the shop, Cozi has been adopted by co-parents as a place to record shopping lists of things that concern the children, and as a place to collect and store receipts of these things. You and your co-parent will have a record of who bought what and instances of asking to contribute to an item will have proof of purchase and price recorded.
More online resources for co-parenting can be found Mommy Madness, a blog run by my personal friend Kerry, a mom of two who has been through the ups and downs of co-parenting herself. Visit mommy-madness.com for helpful tips, advice, and support.
For more online parenting resources, please click here.