There are benefits and drawbacks to parenting in the Digital Age. One of the benefits, if you co-parent with your ex, is the ease with which you can engage in virtual visitation. This technology-driven approach to maintaining parental connection and involvement with your kids when they’re not under your roof can play an important role in nurturing your relationship, despite physical distance.
For children, virtual visitation can provide a consistent and reassuring presence of both parents, no matter where they happen to be residing at the moment. Video calls, instant messaging and social media platforms can empower children to share their daily experiences, seek advice and receive comfort, much like they would in a shared household.
How virtual visitation can help parents
The benefits of virtual visitation can extend to you and your co-parent as well. Although such arrangements must prioritize your child’s well-being, there is nothing wrong with admitting that you want the chance to be a part of their growing up even though they’re not always with you.
This kind of arrangement can give you the ability to participate in everyday moments and milestones that may occur when your child is with your ex (and vice versa, to their benefit). Virtual visitation allows co-parents to be a part of events they might otherwise miss, like school plays, sports events or bedtime stories. This involvement can be positive for a child’s sense of family continuity and for both parents to feel connected and engaged in their child’s life on a truly regular basis.
These are just some of the ways in which, by leveraging technology, co-parents can better ensure their presence in their children’s lives is consistent, supportive and enriching for all involved, regardless of how often you’re physically separated.
