It is not unusual to be on bad terms with your ex-spouse in the direct aftermath of a divorce. After all, it is likely that the divorce happened due to some form of marital strife.
However, if you have children with your ex-spouse you will be working with him or her for the rest of your lives. Depending on your relationship with your ex-spouse, this may seem completely unworkable. In response to this, some families choose a parallel parenting arrangement. According to Healthline, parallel parenting is a form of co-parenting that entails neither parent ever being in the same place.
Is this not just co-parenting?
Not necessarily. In a typical co-parenting agreement, it is common for parents to come together and support their children in public even though they have divorced. For instance, if a child has a music recital, both parents will appear in the audience. They may even bring their new partners with them.
Parallel parenting completely separates the parents. In the above example, one parent would attend the recital while the other parent may attend the post-recital ice cream social. Alternatively, one parent may take care of everything having to do with the child’s music while another parent attends sports practices.
What are the benefits?
The biggest benefit is that parallel parenting will reduce the amount of conflict between yourself and your ex-spouse. If your ex-spouse has narcissistic Tendencies, parallel parenting may be the only constructive way to deal with this.
Alternatively, if you and your ex-spouse can make a parallel parenting situation feasible, you may be able to transition into the more traditional arrangement.