How to Survive Shared Custody: 5 Ways to Stay Connected to Your Kids After Divorce

One of the most heartbreaking parts of divorce can happen after the agreements are signed and the custody calendar becomes real: suddenly, you may no longer see your children every day. For parents adjusting to shared custody or a 50/50 parenting schedule, the empty bedrooms, missed bedtimes, and stretches of time apart can feel almost impossible to accept. In this episode of Divorce Happens, relationship and divorce coach Molly Rubesh shares five compassionate, practical co-parenting strategies for staying deeply connected to your children—even when they are spending part of their lives in another home.

Molly works with women around the world, supporting them from the difficult decision to divorce through the transition into a healthy, sustainable co-parenting relationship with an ex-husband. Drawing from both her professional coaching work and her own divorce experience, Molly explains why children need explicit permission to love both parents, how small and predictable check-in rituals can create emotional security, and why parents may need to rethink what “time with my kids” actually looks like. That might mean volunteering at school, coaching a team, becoming the reliable home base for soccer cleats and backpacks, or answering a 7 p.m. FaceTime call even when it lasts only 90 seconds. These seemingly ordinary moments can become powerful anchors during divorce recovery and shared custody.

But Molly’s most important reminder may be the simplest: your bond with your children cannot be reduced to the number of overnights on a parenting plan. The years you have spent loving, comforting, raising, listening to, and showing up for your children do not disappear because a divorce decree divides their time between two homes. This conversation offers reassurance for moms struggling with co-parenting grief while also providing actionable co-parenting tips for creating stability, reducing pressure on children, and building connection after divorce. If you have ever wondered, Will my children still feel as close to me if I only have them half the time? this episode offers both practical guidance and a deeply hopeful answer.

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