Can nesting help our divorcing family?

There are many reasons that a marriage might end, and not all of them end with the divorced couple hating each other. In fact, if you have children with your ex-spouse, being on good terms is beneficial for joint custody. 

If you and your spouse are able to maintain a positive working relationship, “nesting” might be a good post-divorce living situation for your family. According to Psychology Today, nesting involves maintaining a family house while the parents move in and out of the house according to the custody schedule.  

What are the benefits?

Particularly if you keep the children in the same home that all of you were living in prior to the divorce, this represents a very high amount of stability. In fact, with nesting, the literal only thing that changes is only one parent is in the house at a time. 

If you live in an expensive area, you might find that nesting is the only realistic way to keep your children in the same school district. Nesting is also beneficial for families with older children. Many families choose to nest until their children graduate from high school, and then they will dissolve the family home.  

Will we be successful “nesters?”

You and your ex-spouse will need a very strong working relationship for nesting to be fruitful. After all, you will still be managing a household together, even though you divorced. You will need to closely collaborate on bill payments and other schedule related matters. 

If you are not able to have a conversation with your ex-spouse without it dissolving into an argument, it is unlikely that you will find nesting successful. Nesting has many positive benefits for well-adjusted divorced families.