Marriage takes work. And sometimes, even with all that work, it still doesn’t work out.
Divorce is especially difficult when children are involved.
If you’ve watched a lot of TV and movies in the past few decades, you’d get the impression that divorced parents never get along and are supposed to hate each other.
And sometimes this is the case, but a lot of parents now are making an effort to create a harmonious cohesive family unit even after divorce.
It’s called co-parenting.
“The co-parent relationship differs from an intimate relationship between adults in that it focuses solely on the child,” Wikipedia explains.
“Its original meaning was mostly related to united families. However, since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, the principle that a child has to continue to maintain a strong relationship with both parents, even if separated, has become more and more a recognized right. Thus, the concept of co-parenting was extended to separated and divorced families as well.”
Experts say co-parenting is extremely beneficial to the child.
This includes having the children actively creating good lives instead of coping with unhappy ones.
The children also have higher self-esteem and learn social maturity. They also learn good social skills by watching their parents communicate.
Children also have better relationships with both parents.
You can learn about the additional benefits of co-parenting at coParenter.com.
One person that is absolutely nailing co-parenting is Blake Higginbotham of Nederland, Texas.
He posted his ex-wife’s engagement photos congratulating the couple and is being applauded all over the internet.
“This is my ex-wife. The mother of my 3 children. The woman who brought all 3 of my children into this world,” he wrote on Facebook.
But it wasn’t easy for Higginbotham to get to this point.
He admits that their divorce was “bitter.”
But that all changed after a few years.
“We got married young, had 3 beautiful children and had a bitter divorce. 3 years later, that relationship is much different. We share the kids evenly and support them in everything they do. We act as a team,” he explains.
Not only does he have respect for his ex-wife, but he also has respect for her fiancé.
“The man she’s with is a great guy. He’s great to my kids and they love him to death. As a father, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I sincerely wish you both the best. I’m thankful for many things including yall’s relationship,” he says.
He also had a few words of wisdom for parents who are divorced.
“To anyone divorced, I encourage you with all of me to try and look at this from a different angle. Just because you didn’t workout as husband and wife doesn’t mean you can’t be mom and dad.”