You know what’s better than being right? Being happy.
Recently Ryan asked me to marry him, of course I said yes! Ella is super excited to be a flower girl and planning has begun. We will also be moving into our new home before Christmas, so a lot of changes are taking place this year. But the thing I want to change most of all is our relationship with Ella’s mom.
Co-parenting is hard, but it’s even harder when the parents don’t get along and the child can sense it. It’s best to communicate and work together. Yes, meeting face to face can be awkward at times, but if you keep the lines of communication open, it doesn’t have to be.
Always put the child’s feelings ahead of yours, maybe you didn’t want to give up a day with him/her but it would really help the other parent, because they have family in town. When you start to work together and be flexible it will be reciprocated.
You can try to show your child you are all in this together by taking some baby steps. As we approach the holidays we planned on taking Ella to see Santa and invited her mom and boyfriend to join us. Ella had the best time seeing Santa and both her families got to be apart of it. After she asked if we could all get dinner together and how could we say no? We all put our differences aside for one night to make Ella happy and that’s what is most important.
I’ve noticed that the more we have been helping each other out I have been happier. Sure there’s times we don’t want to agree, but is the stress worth it? Absolutely not. Being happy is better for yourself and for your family. Talking things out and knowing where each of us are coming from has helped to better understand how we are feeling in different situations. Sometime we can get in our own way but if we always put the child first and have their best interest at heart you can find common ground. It takes a village and lots of open communication but I promise you, it will make everyone happier in the end!
Guest Writer – Victoria May
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