It may go without saying, but divorces may bring out the worst in people. For those divorcees who are parents, it is very important for them to realize that kids are watching what they say and do, even if it seems like they are in their own worlds and not paying attention.

Because of that, parents engaged in child custody and parenting time battles must do their best to temper their emotions and keep their kids first. To that end, we offer the following tips to divorcing parents.

Don’t fight in front of the child – Indeed, your soon-to-be ex may drive you crazy, and part of this may be purely intentional. But it is critical for parents to avoid confrontations in front of their kids.

Don’t freeze the other parent out – While you may become angry at the other parent because they may put their work schedule (or new relationship) in front of the kids at times, it is important to resist the urge to deny parenting time or keep the other parent in the dark when it comes to events in the child’s life.

Celebrate the child’s fun – You may have negative feelings when the child reports how much fun they had with the other parent. However, you should be happy that they had fun instead of jealous or resentful about how the other parent treats the child better than you.

Don’t treat kids like accessories – Try not to make the child feel like they are getting in the way of you living your life.  Kids already have a knack for blaming themselves for divorces. You don’t want to foster their insecurities.