Do We Need a Co-Parenting Application?

Regardless of most custodial arrangements, parents need to be able to communicate about their children and, more often than not, that can be a challenge for many reasons. Now, some families are perfectly fine without the use of a co-parenting application. Some co-parents are able to communicate cordially, effectively, and efficiently on a regular basis to ensure all their children’s needs are met.

On the other hand, some families get lost in the weeds of pick-ups, drop-offs, expense reimbursements, appointments, and exchanging important documents. Furthermore, emotionally charged communications can also tend to cause further problems and delays. That is where co-parenting applications like Our Family Wizard, Talking Parents, or AppClose can come into play.

What features do these applications include:

1. Calling and Video Chatting: These features allow parents to have a clearly documented video and call log within the application the houses the rest of their communications which is extremely convenient for parents and if needed, their attorneys or the court.
2. Messaging: Inside the parenting applications are messaging/texting features that allow parents to communicate in writing. The applications also prevent the messages from being edited or deleted.
3. Shared Calendar: Merging the schedules of two different households can be tricky for anyone! These parenting applications include in the application a shared calendar for parents to input all of their children’s events, appointments, etc. Ultimately, this feature is helpful to keep parents on the same page without the use of an outside application.
4. Expense Logs and Reimbursements: Many families have set way in which they share expenses for their children and that can be extremely confusing. The applications provide a space to input expenses, receipts and reimbursement requests. It will keep track of what is outstanding and how much is or is not owed. Parents also find the log extremely helpful for budgeting purposes as well as reimbursement purposes.
5. Document Storage and Sharing: Once parents live separately, keeping track of children’s documents can be taxing and complicated. These applications provide a secure place to upload documents like: medical documents, appointment summaries, insurance information, school schedules, etc. While the hard copies may be in one house or another, it is helpful for both parents to have electronic access to everything they may need!
6. Journal: The journal features help parents privately record observations, milestones, memories, etc. or share them with their co-parent. Furthermore, within the journal features, some of these applications also provide a “check-in” feature to verify a parent’s presence at exchanges/other locations and keeps a record of such check-ins.
7. Tone Meter: This feature is exclusive to Our Family Wizard, however the Tone Meter feature provides automated feedback to help parents maintain positive and cordial communications.

Overall, although not always necessary, parenting applications are wildly convenient places for parents to keep two homes on the same page. These applications help parents who struggle with co-parenting get into a rhythm and avoid conflict. On the other hand, these applications can make life for parents who already easily co-parent much more convenient.

Lastly, as the applications house everything in one place and the data can be downloaded/printed, these applications can also be helpful to parents’ attorneys, parent coordinators, and the court, if needed.