Co-Parenting isn't hard. All you need is love.

in steemdads •  8 years ago  (edited)

Sometimes, marriages just don't work out. For a multitude of reasons, relationships are difficult. Especially when said relationships start when lovers are young and the relationship goes on for years. People grow in different ways, and what was once appealing or comfortable may not satisfy one's changing desires.

Sometimes those relationships evolve into marriage and procreation. Children are the greatest thing in life, in my opinion. I have a four year old son from a previous marriage, and @cryptomomma just gave birth to my second son three weeks ago!

My ex-wife and I seperated two years ago, after being married for almost three. I have know her for nearly twenty years. I married my best friend's little sister. About a year after marrying, we had a beautiful boy, and named him Carlin. It is an old greek name that means "Little Champion"

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Since the day he was born, his mother and I have worked opposite shifts so that either one of us would always be able to have him, and a babysitter would never be needed. We didn't have a child so that someone else could be responsible for it. When we seperated, that simply continued. Carlin is the single most important thing in either of our lives. Nothing comes before him.
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Carlin's mother keeps him in the morning to early afternoon, allowing me to work opening shifts. Around 3-4pm, she will drop him off at my house on her way to work. I keep him the rest of the day. Every other night, he sleeps at my house, and at his mother's the other nights. We both get to see him every single day, but more importantly, he gets to see both of his parents every day.

No judge has ordered us that this is the way it needs to be. Our divorce papers have yet to be filed (not for a lack of me trying), so the government still has nothing to do with the way we raise our child. When the papers get filed, we will both be ordered to take "Families in Transition" classes, but it will just be another chance to tell others about our awesome teamwork. Some of the people I explain this to are amazed, and almost confused. Which saddens me in a way. That all children are not cared for in a way that differences between parents can be put aside for the well being of the child.

We're still not sure how we're going to tackle the issue of school, but we have talked about our options. No matter what happens, I know that everyone involved will win as long as we remember what it's all for.
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I recently started a curation effort around parents on steemit, and created the #steemdads and #steemmoms tags! I would love to see these tags gain traction, so that we can come together and reward great parents for what they do best!

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Divorce should be never be a burden on the children, and parents like yourselves that make that a commitment and not just words are truly admirable. Your son is adorable!!.

Thank you very much. He's the most important thing. I don't know what I'd do without him.

I'm generally excited for parenthood recently in the past few years, but after your post it really makes me that much more excited

Your ability to subdue your ego for the sake of doing what's right is pretty darn impressive. May your wonderful kids learn this beautiful trait...

They will certainly grow up to learn there are more important things than themselves. The ability to put one's desires aside for the sake of someone who wholly depends on your decisions to survive is something that should come naturally to anyone. Having children isn't a game, though some parents don't take it as seriously as they should.

I also wish it came more naturally to those for whom it doesn't. Wish it came more naturally to people without children as well!

Excited to see parenting become more of a topic on steemit. As a father of 5, I look forward to encouraging and being encouraged by other #steemdads and #steemmoms! following

Fantastic! I was VERY surprised to learn there isn't much curation around parenting... Someone needs to do it, might as well be me! 😁

In my opinion, it is better to devorse, than live without any feelings only for children. It is like artificial rose - it will never smell like real. Children will be morr happy, if they will not see that artificial feelings of their parrents.

I absolutely agree. How can people provide happiness to their children if they themselves are unhappy?