There's ten Skittles on the table. It's okay to gobble them all up when involved with one-time negotiations - car lease; buying a house, etc....negotiations where you won't see the other party again.
Not so much when it comes to divorce and negotiations. Chances are, whether you like it or not, you'll see the ex for the next ten, twenty, thirty years at birthday parties, graduations, youth sports games, school events. So, don't gobble up all the Skittles on the table when you sit down to negotiate a change in the parenting plan or additional child support to pay for summer sports camps.
Keep in mind that child support is NOT "mandatory" for extracurricular activities like sports and camps and other events that are not specifically related to education, healthcare, and housing. So, you must negotiate your position and allow the other side to come away feeling good about the situation as well.
It's not about being weak or giving in but really about self-preservation and creating goodwill for when you need something from the other side down the road and they hold the leverage on that specific issue.
More divorce and sports parenting tips in my book, Zero Offseason, now available at www.Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Divorce-Sports-Parenting-ebook/dp/B00PLY51RW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1435757009&sr=8-2&keywords=zero+offseason
