My ex keeps sending my child home filthy
silverbackmama · 1 found this helpful
I’m really worried that my child is not getting showered and teeth brushed for up to the 5 days when he spends with his dad. I have a 2-2-5 schedule. Every-time I pick him up he smells so bad that ev…
Building the record before you escalate a health concern
Curated by CoreParent · 1 found this helpful
You may eventually need a court or a professional to intervene on a health or behavioral issue your co-parent denies, but showing up with feelings and no record rarely moves anyone.
Choosing your battles: when to go legal and when to let it go
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Not every disagreement is worth a motion. But some genuinely are, and it's hard to tell in the heat of it which fights protect your kid and which just cost money, time, and goodwill you'll need later.
When a health decision can't wait for agreement
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Your child needs care now: a worsening symptom, a mental-health crisis, a time-sensitive treatment. And your co-parent is stalling, unreachable, or opposed.
Getting a reluctant co-parent on board with getting help
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Your co-parent isn't flatly refusing, but they drag their feet on therapy, an assessment, or a treatment plan, and every delay costs your child time.
When your co-parent won't admit your child needs help
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You see it clearly. Your child is struggling with their mental health, behavior, a learning difference, or a medical issue. But your co-parent waves it off as a phase, 'kids being kids,' or your imagi…
The first handoff that finally went smoothly
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
For months, exchanges were dread: tense, awkward, sometimes ugly. Then one day it just… worked. It's worth knowing what makes that happen so it can happen again.
Co-parenting a baby across two homes
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Separating with an infant brings its own hard questions: overnights, feeding, and how a baby keeps a bond with each parent when they can't yet understand a schedule.
The guilt of 'breaking up the family'
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Even when separating was the right call, the guilt can be crushing. There's the sense that you did this to your kids, that you stole the childhood they were supposed to have.
What's actually worth documenting for your case
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
You've heard 'write everything down,' but you're drowning in screenshots and notes with no idea what a court would ever care about.
Both parents at the game without the tension
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
The recital, the championship, the graduation: your kid wants both parents there, but the thought of being in the same room (or the other parent's new partner being there) makes it fraught.
Handling an IEP or 504 with a difficult co-parent
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Your child needs extra support at school, and the IEP/504 process is hard enough without a co-parent who disengages, disagrees, or turns the meetings into a battleground.
Splitting extracurriculars and medical bills fairly
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Beyond base support, there's a constant stream of shared costs: soccer fees, braces, copays. Every one turns into a debate about who owes what.
Traveling with the kids: notice, consent, and passports
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
You want to take the kids on a trip, maybe out of state, maybe abroad, and you're unsure what notice or permission you owe the other parent, or where the passports even are.
When your ex introduces a new partner
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Your kids come home talking about your co-parent's new partner, and it stirs up everything: jealousy, worry about who's around your children, fear of being replaced.
Planning the summer schedule without a fight
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Summer breaks the school-year rhythm with camps, vacations, and childcare gaps, and suddenly every week is a negotiation, usually at the last minute and under pressure.
When your teen resists the custody schedule
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Your teenager doesn't want to switch houses on schedule. Friends, activities, and their own life are all on one side, and the calendar feels like it's fighting their independence.
Breaking the 'forgot the backpack' loop
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Shoes, homework, the lovey, the inhaler: something always gets left at the other house, and every forgotten item becomes a new round of blame and back-and-forth trips.
Documenting without escalating
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
You've been told to 'keep records,' but every time you write something down or bring it up, it feels like you're building a case and picking a fight at the same time.
Going low-contact with a high-conflict ex
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Every open-ended conversation with your co-parent becomes a fight or a trap. You need to coordinate parenting without handing them a new opening every day.
Building new holiday traditions that stick
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
The old holiday rituals belonged to the whole family, and doing half of them now just underlines what's missing. You want new ones that feel like yours, not leftovers.
Splitting a birthday across two homes
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Your child's birthday falls on the 'wrong' week, or both homes want the 'real' party, and it's turning into a tug-of-war over a day that's supposed to be about the kid.
When your co-parent is chronically late
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Pickups and drop-offs are never on time. You and the kids end up waiting, plans get derailed, and it starts to feel like a message in itself.
Keeping your kids out of the middle
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
It's so tempting to let a comment slip about the other parent, to use the kids as messengers, or to ask them what's going on at the other house. Especially when you're hurt, it feels almost involuntar…
The ache of the days without your kids
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
The house is too quiet on your off-days. The silence after a separation can feel less like free time and more like grief, and it can pull you into scrolling their photos or counting the hours.
Walking into mediation calmer
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
You've got a mediation session coming up and you're anxious, worried it'll turn into a rehash of every grievance or that you'll get steamrolled.
Co-parenting across a long distance
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
One of you has moved (or is about to), and the everyday rhythm of two nearby homes gives way to flights, long stretches apart, and staying present from far away.
Introducing your child to a new partner
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Things are getting serious with someone new, and you're weighing when and how to introduce them to your kids without rushing it or blindsiding your co-parent.
Keeping both homes in the loop on school
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
Permission slips, picture day, the science project due Monday: school info keeps landing at one house and not the other, and the kid pays the price when something gets missed.
When support comes late, or not at all
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
The support payment is late again, or short, and you're covering the gap while trying not to let the kids feel the stress of it.
Choosing your first custody schedule
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
You're staring at a blank calendar trying to pick a schedule (week-on/week-off, 2-2-3, every-other-weekend) with no idea which one your family can actually live.
Handoffs when your child cries at the door
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
The exchange turns into tears. Your child clings, melts down, or begs not to go. It's gut-wrenching, and it's easy to read it as proof that something is wrong at the other home.
Answering a hostile text without making it worse
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
A message lands that's built to provoke: an accusation, a jab, a wall of grievances. Your heart rate spikes and you want to defend yourself point by point.
When your co-parent won't respond to messages
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
You send a clear, reasonable message about the kids and get… nothing. Silence on scheduling, on a medical decision, on a simple yes/no. It's maddening, and it can start to affect real logistics.
Getting through your first holiday apart
Curated by CoreParent · 0 found this helpful
The first big holiday after separating is often the hardest one. There's the empty half of the day, the traditions that suddenly feel different, and the pressure to make it perfect so the kids don't f…