Co-parenting can be very challenging, as communication, cooperation and honesty are particularly important for each parent to successfully support their child.
One of the most important, but also sometimes messy situations, can result from shared custody complications. While not all situations will always be agreed upon, a level of mutual respect and safety can greatly benefit both the children and the adults involved.
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Relationships, parenting, and kinship can be complicated.
With so many non-traditional families and arrangements, the way people approach parenting is changing over time. Parents often have to decide what specifically works best for their child or children, and what works for them.
Co-parenting is sometimes a frustrating arrangement.
Co-parents are trying to raise happy and healthy children, but their parenting styles and lifestyles may not always sync well. Feelings can be hurt, misunderstandings can happen, and mistakes can often be made.
Recently, one mother got an unpleasant surprise delivered to her house that she had to tell Reddit about.
The mom splits custody with her former partner, who she identified as Sean, but their relationship has been complicated. After something went awry, she took to Reddit’s popular AITA subreddit to share her story and seek advice.
She was hoping for people to weigh in and help her assess her actions with clarity.
There was already tension in the air.
She said that Sean, who is her former partner, has another baby who is only six weeks younger than her baby boy. With the boys being brothers, it was clear that both parents and children would have their lives intertwined in some unique ways.
Clearly, with one man juggling custody arrangements with two different mothers and two different babies, things could get a bit messy.
According to her post on Reddit, the woman said:
“Lydia [who is the other baby’s mother] and I have identical custody agreements. We both had sole custody for the entire first year, with Sean only having visitation, and when both boys were a year old, it became 50/50 custody.”
It seemed obvious that parenting styles didn’t quite sync.
This mom explained that her son goes with Sean during the even weeks, and so does Lydia’s son. Per Sean’s request, both boys stay with him at the same time.
“He pushed for this, as he wanted a week on/week off from looking after kids. He also requested this so his sons could bond, but his primary motive was getting time off,” the mom explained.
Unsurprisingly, something went wrong.
One of the weeks in which Sean was watching both boys, he went to drop one of them off.
The mother wrote: “He brought my son back earlier today. I was on a work call and the baby was sleeping, so Sean just sort of placed the baby, carrier and all, down on the floor and left silently.”
What happened next was perhaps a mother’s worst nightmare.
After finishing her work call, she heard the baby wake up and start to cry. She went to check on him.
She was shocked: “This was not my son, as my son has blue eyes, and this baby had green eyes. Taking off the baby’s hat also showed dark blond hair, and not my son’s light brown hair.”
Obviously, this was not okay.
Her ex brought her the wrong baby, and it was not okay. She immediately called him in the midst of growing panic.
“It had only been about 10 minutes so Sean wasn’t far away and hadn’t gone by Lydia’s yet, but Jesus f–king Christ it was the worst 10 minutes of my life,” the mother recalled on Reddit.
This definitely wasn’t as big of a deal for Sean as a co-parent.
Apparently, Sean just smiled and handed her the right baby while assuring her that everything was fine.
Clearly, for the mother, everything was not fine and she demanded a change to the custody arrangement that would prevent Sean from having both boys at the same time.
Many, however, believed the oversight was merely the work of an overtired parent.
“Parents make mistakes, and this mistake had no one in any danger, just a bit upsetting,” one commenter wrote. “Grabbing the wrong kid is not an uncommon parenting move.”
“The guy is probably exhausted, as are most new parents. It doesn’t sound like either kid was in ANY danger,” another said.
Doesn’t everyone deserve to be cut some slack sometimes?
The responses were overwhelmingly in favor of Sean, who’s just human, after all.
As one commenter aptly wrote: “I’m a fine parent i think and yesterday I put my dog in the car instead of my 8 year old to go to the store. I realized around the corner. Things are weird for everyone right now.”
