Of all of the stressors related to divorce, figuring out how to manage joint custody is often one of the most difficult to manage. After all, setting up a new household and managing to move the children between your house and your ex-spouse’s new house is a challenge on multiple levels.
Increasingly, more American families are choosing to avoid this situation. According to Psychology Today, these families are experimenting with an alternative post-divorce living situation: nesting.
What makes it different?
Rather than the children moving between two separate parental households, nesting puts the onus of moving on the parents. That is, the children live in a single home full-time, and the parents move in and out according to what the custody schedule dictates.
Nesting makes many aspects of post-divorce life and custody management easier. You will not encounter resentment from your children related to moving so often. You will also not forget important items like stuffed toys or medications at the other parent’s house when the children stay in the same home 100% of the time.
What are potential challenges?
Because nesting requires the parents to continue to maintain a family home together, it is not a good solution for ex-spouses that are not on good terms. You will still be jointly managing the family home and paying bills while you are nesting.
In some situations, the parents decide to rent a separate apartment for the parent who is not in the family home to live in. If you and your ex-spouse are not prepared for a high level of cooperation post-divorce, nesting is not a good choice.