Many parents face challenges after a divorce, but one challenge to handle with great delicacy is the difficulty of raising the children on your own. Below is an excerpt of an article written by Lenore Skomal for divorce360.com. Here are some tips to running your newly single household:
FIVE TIPS TO RUN A SMOOTH SINGLE PARENT HOUSEHOLD
Raising kids can be overwhelming, especially when you are on your own. Children need a sense of responsibility and the best way to do that is to have them shoulder some of the burden of running the household. It helps to have a plan that everyone agrees on. Former family therapist now management consultant John Curtis breaks down the basics of carving up household duties in his book “The Business of Love”. “Clarity around roles and responsibilities takes the guesswork and emotion out of assigning chores,” said Curtis. “Duties should be based on competency not gender and ability to perform the task.”
“Taking a business approach to your family relationships helps protect the love since nothing erodes these wonderful feelings faster than fighting over who takes out the trash,” said the 58 year-old-author.
1. Make a pledge that you will not let daily duties around the house get in the way of building loving relationships with each other.
2. Write a list of all the chores that have to be performed around the house.
3. Pick who will do what, based on who is most competent or motivated? (Your choices might be: His, Hers, Ours, Rotate, Negotiate, Outsource or maybe just flip a coin.) The key is to put it in writing to make sure you both know who is to do what.
4. Sit down every week and give each other feedback via a “Performance Appraisal” about how well each sees the other performing their duties.
5. Have some fun. To make sure you don’t lose sight of your children’s valuable contributions consider switching job duties every so often. It is always good to understand what it is like to do each other’s chores.
This article was posted on divorce360.com, and the full article can be viewed here.