Even if your marriage does not last forever, if you have children with your ex-spouse you will be a parent with them for life. Particularly if your divorce is acrimonious, this can be a little bit overwhelming to think about.
Generally, it is best for children to have both parents actively involved in raising them. However, if the parents have a difficult relationship with each other additional support is necessary. According to Healthline, parallel parenting is a method of parenting that cuts down on the amount of time the parents spend in contact with each other.
How is parallel parenting different from co-parenting?
In a co-parenting situation, both parents will come together to support the children even if they are not on speaking terms. A typical example of co-parenting is both parents coming to support a child at a baseball game, even if the parents sit separately and are seeing other people. They are able to put their differences to the side for the good of their child. They may even get along well.
With a parallel parenting situation, only one parent would be physically present at the baseball game. This ensures no conflict between the parents. It is possible that one parent would watch the game and go home; then, the other parent would attend the post-game pizza party to show support.
What are the benefits?
The biggest benefit to parallel parenting is that it allows both parents involvement with the children while removing parental conflict from the situation. Additionally, if parallel parenting goes well enough, it is possible that the situation may naturally transition to a more amicable co-parenting relationship with enough time.