It is most likely that you will be co-parenting with your ex-spouse after divorce if kids are in the picture. Co-parenting has many advantages for the children, but managing it can be difficult.
To help make co-parenting easier, some families are engaging in nesting arrangements after divorce. “Nesting” is when the parents move in and out of a single home and the kids stay where they are, according to Psychology Today.
How is this beneficial?
Nesting can be very helpful in the initial stages of a divorce. It is likely that you and your ex-spouse are not interested in cohabitating at this point, but you may still need more time to make next-step decisions. Nesting can give you and your ex-spouse the space you need from each other without needing to make major changes in your children’s lives.
Nesting can also help families stay in expensive neighborhoods. In certain circumstances, perhaps it is not possible for the parents to maintain households as individual entities if the area has a high cost of living. Nesting is one potential way for a family to keep a footprint in an expensive neighborhood.
Where does the “off-duty” parent go?
This depends on the individual arrangement. In some circumstances, the “off-duty” parent may go live with other family members or friends. In more permanent nesting arrangements, it is not uncommon for the co-parents to maintain a separate apartment that they live in when not in the family home.
In the majority of cases, nesting is a temporary arrangement that can help ease the transitions inherent with divorce. However, in certain circumstances a longer-term nesting arrangement may suit your needs.