There is nothing as rewarding in life as parenting. But being a parent can at times become a blur of events that keep you driving all over Orange County: school schedules, soccer practices and games, picking up and dropping off at friends’ homes, homework, doctor visits, music lessons and much more. Tracking all of the times, locations and myriad other details becomes much more complicated when parents divorce and there are two households and a parenting plan that must be incorporated into those timetables.
Fortunately, there are a number of co-parenting apps that can help you blend calendars and organize schedules so that both you and your ex are up to date with what’s going on in your children’s lives and what’s coming up. The apps enable communication between divorced parents that keeps the focus on what’s most important – their children.
Let’s take a look at a few co-parenting apps recommended by Parents magazine.
WeParent
The psychologist who created WeParent is determined to help reduce the stress of co-parenting. The app helps you manage appointments, parenting schedules, documents and messages, and also allows you to track expenses (a must-have co-parenting feature).
- Cost: WeParent offers a 14-day free trial. After that, it’s $9.99 per month; $99.99 per year; or $199.99 for a lifetime subscription.
OurFamilyWizard
Created by a divorced couple, the app is designed “to help keep communication between co-parents as harmonious as possible,” Parents says. The app enables parents to track kids’ schedules, and includes “powerful tools (that) document your parenting time, reimbursement requests, payments, exchanges, and more,” it says on the OFW site.
There’s also an optional ToneMeter that works like spellcheck, except that it checks for negative tones in messages and offers alternative wording less likely to lead to conflict.
- Cost: $99 per year. ToneMeter is an additional $10 per year.
Coparently
Because this app allows kids to contribute to schedules, it might appeal to parents of teens who want to be part of decisions. Like the other apps, it allows co-parents to share calendars and contacts, communicate with one another and track expenses.
- Cost: Coparently offers a 30-day free trial and is then $9.99 per month per parent or $99 per year.
All of the apps listed are available in Android and iOS versions.