It is well-known that children struggle emotionally when their parents divorce. The entire process is very difficult on children, especially because they lose their sense of stability and home. Trying to keep life as predictable and routine as possible can help make the other changes in your family a little less stressful for your children.
If you and your ex really want to make divorce easier on your children, then you may want to think about letting them stay in your family home even after your divorce. This arrangement, called birdnesting, can make shared custody a lot less stressful for your children.
How does birdnesting work?
When a couple agrees to try birdnesting while sharing custody, they are the ones who move out of the family home, not the children. Each parent will have a room elsewhere for when they don’t have custody and will take turns with their ex staying in the family home during their parenting time. Sometimes, if the house is spacious enough, they can each have their own room full-time in the family home.
Birdnesting lets the children stay in the same community and school district that they have always known. It also makes it easier for parents to more evenly split the non-financial aspects of maintaining a household, like cleaning up after the children. Finally, it can even make things a little more affordable because your family won’t need two sets of everything for the children since they won’t live between two separate households.
Exploring all of the options for shared custody can help you make the best of a difficult situation in your divorce.