Communication between co-parents isn't always easy - especially early on, if you're trying to navigate new dynamics in your relationship. Working toward having healthy communication is always best for everyone involved, but sometimes things feel too challenging and too overwhelming to even consider that healthy communication might be possible. If your coparenting relationship is full of conflict and unhealthy communication, I'm sharing five rules of communication that can help ease the friction, and help avoid creating additional fear and anxiety in your children. In many instances, following these rules can help move you toward building healthy communication with the other parent over time. In other instances, however, healthy communication may not ever be possible. Even if that's your situation, it's still important to keep these rules in mind because even though you will never have control over what the other person says or does or how they treat you, you have complete control over how you respond and how you show up for yourself and your children.