‘I live next door to my ex because it’s the best way to raise our daughter’

15 November 2022, 15:41

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

An anonymous has explained that she and her ex-husband decided to move into semi-detached homes with an adjoining door.

A mum has revealed she now lives in an adjoining house to her ex-husband so they can co-parent their daughter.

After their divorced six years ago, the pair decided to sell their family home and buy two houses which are attached and install their own adjoining door.

Deciding to stay friends after an amicable split, the woman said she wanted to ensure they could still raise their 11-year-old daughter in the best way possible.

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They also took the fence down to create one huge garden for their little one to play around in.

Taking to Reddit, she explained: "Neither of us wanted to lose full custody of her or miss important moments in her life, she is the most important person in both our lives and we debated on trying to make it work just for her but realised that would only lead to all three of us becoming miserable so we entered an arrangement that many would view as unconventional.”

Her daughter has a bedroom in each home and picks where she wants to sleep and eat her dinner.

She continued: "The adjoining door is strictly for our daughter's use and neither of us can use it barring any emergencies say a fire, a medical emergency or something being wrong with our daughter.”

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"I won't lie it was awkward at first but for her sake we made it work and even regained a lot of the friendship we had lost, though it was of course strictly platonic now.”

Unfortunately, while the dad and his new wife are happy with the arrangement, her new boyfriend is not very impressed.

“He understood the arrangement entering into the relationship and while he said it was a bit ‘weird’ he never protested and all seemed well,” the post continues.

"But he has made it clear he wants me to move as he doesn't want to live next door to my ex-husband.

“I understood that but told him that wouldn't be happening as my daughter had to come first and our arrangement gave her a stable upbringing.”

The mum added that her daughter will always come first so is planning to continue living in the adjoining house for a few more years.

But other Reddit users were divided by the situation, with one commenting: “Yeah this is a somewhat peculiar/unique arrangement, but it works for them.

“It's definitely a red flag that he's reacting like this when he very clearly knows the situation.”

“I would argue that hopefully any emotionally mature adult would see the beauty in this arrangement,” someone else said.

But a third person disagreed, adding: “Most people are not going to want to persue a relationship with this kind of arrangement.”

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