Online Tools Make it Easier to Manage the Business of Co-Parenting

Managing the day-to-day logistics of parenting is a ginormous feat.  And, when those logistics have to be coordinated between two households, it can even seem insurmountable and can lead to conflict between co-parents.

Fortunately, in this age of all things 2.0, there are a variety of online services and software designed specifically to aid separated and divorced parents with managing schedules and communicating other important details of their children’s lives.  While the motivation for some of these services was minimizing the required communication between parents prone to high-levels of conflict, any two-household family can benefit tremendously from features such as:
 

• Parenting time schedule management
• Event and activity scheduling
• Contact lists
• Expense logs
• Photo sharing
• Medical information tracking
• File sharing
• Virtual visitation
• Household rules and daily routine documentation

A few online co-parenting management tools to consider strongly are:

JointParents.com—Developed by co-parents, this site is easy to navigate, simple to use and offers a full range of features, including virtual visitation capabilities.  Just plug a video camera into your computer, and you and your child(ren) can video chat from within the site.  JointParents offers a 30-day trial for interested parents.

ShareKids.com—One of the first services like this, ShareKids also offers a broad range of capabilities.  Share kids also offers a free trial, and they provide scholarships for families who are “truly strapped financially.

Parentingtime.net (OPTIMAL)–OPTIMAL is an online custody calendar that is designed both to help manage your child’s schedule but also to help monitor compliance with with your custody agreement.  In fact, it includes reports specifically designed for presentation in court.  

And, although it isn’t designed for co-parenting, good old Google Calendar is a viable option with plenty of functionality all for f-r-e-e.

In addition to the online tools, there are several other software tools that you load directly to your computer including:

SharedGround–SharedGround is a calendar creation tool that uses wizards to guide you through setting up a parenting calendar that is printable or can be synched to your PDA.  While it can help you stay on top of your child sharing logistics, it doesn’t allow for both parents to have access.

KidMate–KidMate helps parents analyze the impact of different-time sharing arrangements and their impact on quality time spent with children.  And, uniquely, once you’ve decided on a plan, KidMate will generate a text version of the arrangement that can be inserted into your parenting plan agreement.

If you’re having difficulty coordinating between two households, need to minimize live conversations to help maintain the peace, or just want to make your family life flow more smoothly, consider trying one of these tools.

And, if you do, please be sure to come back here to share your experience with the rest of us!

WeParent is a community of parents and parent advisers striving to give our children one of the keys to a happy, healthy and fulfilled life…strong families. We are on a mission to support and uplift African-American mothers and fathers, like us, who are living apart but parenting TOGETHER.

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