University of Minnesota Parenting Resources

We here at the OurFamilyWizard website know it can be difficult to communicate with your ex -- and that’s why we created our website. Still, it is important to be able to manage those face-to-face interactions.

We’ve found a brief online presentation offered by the University of Minnesota that gives tips on how to deal with such encounters.

Some of the techniques stressed by the University’s Parenting Education Resources are:

• use “I” messages
• remain clear and businesslike
• stick to the topic
• realize when thing are getting too heated
• DON’T use your children as messengers
• maintain a common log or journal, like ourfamilywizard.com

Using these techniques can really smooth out the relationship you have with your child’s other parent. Their website reads:

Research tells us that parents who are able to resolve differences on their own have on average 32 more contacts with each other per year than parents who turn to the legal system to help resolve conflict.

Beyond the presentation, the site also contains downloadable "I" message wallet cards that can help remind you to use "I" messages in conversation.