Recently I was reminded of what co parenting looks like when the entire extended family makes it work. Being a single mom I usually only look at things from my point of view but this weekend I got the chance to look at this as a relative instead of the single parent.
My best friend’s son and his wife are divorced, their son is three. I think that Sarah and Tyler have done a wonderful job of co parenting their son. This little boy seems happy, well adjusted and well loved. When he is with us he is the apple of everyone’s eye. We all love to see that little boy, to see how much he’s grown and laugh at the silly things he says. It’s funny, but even though I’m a single mother myself I never thought of how his mom would feel coming into a large family gathering to pick up her son.
This weekend Sarah had to pick the baby up from a family party, a family that I’m sure she no longer feels like she is part of, but that’s not the case. I know in many divorces the in laws have hard feelings towards the person who is now divorced from their child, but I’m happy to say that is not the case with my friends family. Maybe it’s because my friend and her husband have both been married before so theirs is truly a blended family with all the chaos that entails, or maybe it’s just who they are.
Everyone welcomed Sarah, talked with her, and we were sad to see her go. This young mother basically grew up as part of this family, they were teenagers when they met and so very young when they started their family. It’s wonderful to see that Sarah is still a part of that family. We all miss her and want only the best for her. I wish more families were as accepting as my friends. After all, it takes two people to make a marriage work and since none of us are perfect we should all own our part of the blame.
It makes me so happy to know that this little boy will grow up surrounded by people who love him, without any hard feelings towards either of his parents who are doing the absolutely best they can. I wish all children could be so lucky.