Just as remote workers can still do their jobs despite being away from the office, parents can still fulfill their parenting role when they are not by their child’s side.
Let’s be clear here, there is no substitute for up close and personal time with your child, but if circumstances mean you cannot be there, you can use the same sorts of technology that people use to work remotely to parent remotely.
Reasons you might need to do this
Reasons you might not be able to be by your child’s side include being away on duty with the military, being away on a business trip or because that is how custody was determined. Here are some ways you can stay in touch:
Chatting over the Internet: You can still see others while you are chatting even if you are thousands of miles away thanks to Zoom, Skype, Facetime and other such services. This allows you to pick up key visual clues from each other.
Sharing through the cloud: Your child has science homework due tomorrow. Their other parent (who they are staying with) is not sure how to do it. You and your child can work through it together by sharing your screens, sharing Google documents and similar.
While these sorts of technologies can help you maintain your relationship, you also need to be careful not to intrude on your co-parent’s parenting time. If it’s going to be something you need to do frequently, you may want legal help to set some rules around it in your parenting agreement.