Madison Holley, a mom of two in Ontario, Canada, snapped a photo of her former partner and her current fiance leaving the hospital together, along with Holley’s just-born baby and 3-year-old son — and the internet loved it. People flooded the comments section of the Holley’s Facebook post and shared photos of their own blended families.
“It made me really happy… Both of them are the fathers to our children. The fact that they can get along and all four of us could sit in the hospital while I have another child with someone else was just really amazing,” Holley told Good Morning America.
“Co-parenting is stressful because you have to readjust your expectations of traditional parenting,” Liz Matheis, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and certified school psychologist, tells Thrive — adding that being flexible about your new arrangement is key. “It’s important for children to see that their parents are getting along,” says Matheis. “You need to co-parent, so respect and courteousness with one another go a long way.”
As for Holley, her motto for taking the stress out of co-parenting is to approach everything with honestly. “Communication is the biggest thing,” she says.
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