You and your ex-spouse may not be on good terms, but you have established how to communicate with each other to help raise your child, perhaps through emails or texts. Unfortunately, your co-parent’s personality may be making communication difficult. Your ex may be swamping you with excessive messages or is making comments that come off as insensitive or slighting.
Dealing with an ex’s personality may cause you emotional stress. In such a situation, you should look for ways to maintain peace with your former spouse and lessen emotional stress. Learning how to be professional when writing your messages to your co-parent may be of help.
Keep your messages simple
Writing communications to your ex can be an emotional process. You might feel tempted to justify your actions with explanations, perhaps adding verbose or flowery language to your messages. These are natural impulses to feel, but writing a lengthy message may just eat up time and make you frustrated. You might also get carried away and write an inflammatory comment that could harm you later. Keep in mind that your communications may end up read in court.
Psychology Today suggests that you consider making your communications brief and businesslike. Convey only what you want your co-parent to know regarding your child and anything related to your child’s situation. You may even use bullet lists for simple, direct effect. These steps may diminish the chance of an emotional outburst in your message and get your communication done more quickly.
Set a time to communicate
Resist the urge to respond to each and every one of your co-parent’s messages when they arrive. It will consume your time and likely aggravate you. Instead, consider establishing a set day and hour when you will answer your co-parent. You may feel better knowing you have only a brief period to deal with the messages your co-parent sends you.
Do not forget to cultivate healthy practices like exercise and personal interests like hobbies. These may help diminish the stress you experience with your ex and help you think clearly when you conduct your co-parenting duties.