Dealing with an angry spouse, Part 4

Give your kids an open door on visits. Don’t allow your angry ex to move on from Victim #1 to Victim #2. If the parent does X, Y, or Z, you agree that the other parent will be available to pick up the kids and that a pattern of a certain number of incidents will result in a change of the parenting time schedule or even a change of custody. Those conditions are equally applied to both parents, even if they seem relevant to only one. The kids will feel safer because they’ll know they’re not prisoners, and both parents can be comfortable with the consistency because, by laying out the reasons that the kids would be picked up early, they can both be assured that the kids won’t be allowed to manipulate.