How To Maintain a Parent-Child Relationship From Afar

Parenting is hard enough as it is. When you add distance to the usual problems of parenting, it’s easy for frustration to come into the mix, but don’t worry—you can still have a positive impact on your child’s life. With some planning and a little effort, you can maintain a parent-child relationship from afar, and we can help you learn how.

Communicate With the Other Parent

Depending on how things ended with your former partner, it may be difficult to keep lines of communication open with them. However, it’s one of the best ways to stay informed as to the events of your child’s life.

When you talk to your child, they might have more exciting things to tell you about than their recent trip to the doctor’s office. Let your kid tell you the fun stuff, but do what you can to stay updated on important happenings through your ex.

As far as the other parents are concerned, you’re shouldering far less responsibility and have less to deal with, so try and stay sympathetic to the situation they’re in. If they express that a certain day is better than another for calling your child, remember that they’re more informed of the situation than you and try to accommodate them.

Build an Adaptable Parenting Plan

Early in the long-distance experience, take some time to develop a parenting plan. When the kids are with the custodial parent, how will you schedule contact, and how often will it happen? How will your child get to the long-distance parent, and when will that happen? Who is responsible for the associated travel expenses?

There’s a lot to think about, but creating a structure helps both parents plan their lives around the child. School, friends, and extracurricular activities can change plans at the last minute, so make sure your schedule is adaptable and can handle a shake-up every now and then.

Stay Consistent

A few nice surprises go a long way, but never underestimate the importance of consistency. Long-distance parenting is a lot to adapt to for a child, so setting clear expectations and building a structure from the outset can help tremendously. While life can find a way to interrupt your regularly scheduled parenting plan, ensure there is a clear schedule.

Your child wants to know when they’ll be able to see you, so set aside an evening each week for a regular call—this will lessen the strain of being apart.

Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype

Luckily for long-distance parents, you can enjoy more communication with your child than merely through audio. Using Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, and any number of other video-calling applications, you can stay in contact with your kid visually as well as audibly.

This is a great way to see your children at various stages of their life— you don’t want to miss seeing what they look like when they lose a tooth for the first time! You can also use this technology as a vehicle for show-and-tell to stay updated on any art projects or their cool new toys.

Use Text Messaging

When your child is old enough for a cell phone, text messaging will be your best friend. While video calls are ideal, kids today are used to texting rather than calling. If you want to stay consistently updated on their life, you’ll hear a lot more over text than phone calls or emails.