When parents divorce, both future co-parents are primarily concerned with how the divorce will affect their parental rights and the children themselves. This worry and the knowledge that divorce often has negative effects on Alexandria, Virginia, children can lead divorcing parents to look for creative child custody solutions. One such solution is nesting.
Nesting?
Nesting (also known as, birdnesting) is the practice of keeping the family home for the kids. This allows the kids to stay put in their own beds and maintain their current life throughout the divorce.
Nesting allows the children to slowly transition from their pre-divorce life to post-divorce life. And, when combined with family counseling, experts find that most, if not all, negative divorce impacts are eliminated.
What do the parents do?
During the nesting period, during each Alexandria, Virginia, parent’s parenting time, they shuttle themselves into the home, and the non-parenting parent shuttles themselves away. However, in practice, couples can decide what works best for them. If there is room on the property or separate living spaces, parents can rotate in and out of a mother-in-law suite or a garage apartment.
Alternatively, the parents can share a small, off-site apartment. This can make the divorce transition much cheaper and allow the spouses to save money to start their new lives. Of course, these are not requirements.
Not for everyone
Nesting keeps parents intertwined much more than the typical divorcing couple. This means that it is not for every couple. If there is abuse, mistrust or an inability to communicate, nesting is not a great option. But, for those parents that can put their child’s well-being front and center, have the ability to communicate effectively and do not hate each other, nesting can be a wonderful way to make the Alexandria, Virginia, divorce process less traumatic on everyone involved.
