When a message is first read, it’s timestamped. There’s also a Holiday Scheduler that lets you see, far into the future, what holiday time you’re scheduled to have with your kids so you can plan better.
OFW has a trade/swap tool that allows you to request one-time modifications of parenting time, and get confirmation that your co-parent has agreed. On Our Family Wizard, you and your co-parent can put your data into a single calendar that allows you to easily see scheduling conflicts.īecause life is unpredictable, you may occasionally need to swap or make up scheduled parenting time. Over time and with parent feedback, they have evolved into shared interactive calendars with plenty of useful features. Many of the co-parenting tools got their start as a way for parents to share calendars. Let’s talk about some of the product features that can make your life easier. Our Family Wizard and other similar apps allow you to do all of these things. Sometimes you just want to share a picture of your child that you know the other parent would appreciate. You may need to submit expenses to and get reimbursement from your co-parent, or make payment to them. You need to know when school assignments are due and when medical appointments are scheduled. You need to know when the children have sports practice, club meetings, music lessons, and other extracurricular events. You need to be aware of who is scheduled to have parenting time when. Think about all of the logistics you need to juggle when the job of parenting is shared between two households. Accessible from your computer or phone, they allow you to upload information your co-parent needs to know, or instantly access information your co-parent has shared. Think of them as command centers for co-parenting. What Are Online Co-Parenting Tools and Apps? While we will be referring to Our Family Wizard (OFW) throughout this post, you should also explore some of the other options to see which has the features that work best for you and your family. Our Family Wizard is one of the oldest and best known of the co-parenting tools, but there are many others. These tools give parents a chance to share important information directly with each other, without having to speak with each other. Online co-parenting tools offer an opportunity to communicate clearly, document what has been shared, and access family information at the click of a button. In short, when communications fail, you suffer-and your kids suffer even more.įortunately, there is a simple, and relatively inexpensive, solution. Direct contact between co-parents may be tense, uncomfortable, or even hostile. Messages passed from one parent to another through the kids can get lost or forgotten (and put an unfair burden on the kids). Unfortunately, miscommunication is all too easy, and a failure of communication can devolve into a spiral of blame and finger-pointing. The key to successful co-parenting after a divorce or breakup is effective communication.