Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe: Successful Co-parenting Secrets

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe: Successful Co-parenting Secrets
By Rosalind Sedacca, CCT
In today's world, Hollywood celebrities are major role models in our culture, especially to the younger generation. For that reason I keep an eye on the movie-star set to see what they're doing in their relationships. It always makes for great article content.
Too often the examples we see are poor ones. So many celebrity relationships end in ugly divorces and distressful child-custody battles. Happily, however, there are some admirable exceptions. Reese Witherspoon and her former husband Ryan Phillippe are modeling behavior worth our acknowledgment.
When recently interviewed they spoke about sharing custody of their kids -- Ava Elizabeth, 9, and Deacon Reese, 5. Both Reese and Ryan are committed to making a conscious effort to parent their children together.
"My ex-husband is very involved in raising our beautiful children," said Reese. She explained that she and Ryan were fortunate enough to share very similar parenting views. As many of us know, this is a key factor in success with co-parenting. I'm pleased that Reese is careful to bring this to our attention.
Both actors grew up in "working families in middle America" which she says puts them "on the same page" in maintaining a structured life for their children. "I'm teaching the children what we were taught growing up -- a real set of rules, discipline, and love," she adds. Reese believes "children thrive with a sense of structure and they're frightened without it."
With that awareness in mind, both parents focus their attention on parenting their children in collaboration, certainly the best way to reap the best results. The children know both Mom and Dad are in agreement about parenting rules and that provides great security for them, despite the reality of divorce.
We all can learn a lot from this young divorced couple. They are putting their children's needs first when making parenting decisions. They discuss parenting issues, discipline strategies, family rules and the values they want their children to appreciate. With this alignment of beliefs it's far easier to raise children who feel loved, secure and respected by both parents.
Of course not all of us are blessed with exes who share our values and principles. Some of us face far more difficult roads to travel in our post-divorce parenting. And for many, co-parenting is not at all possible.
However, we all can take away some meaningful lessons from Reese and Ryan. The more we work together with our ex - because we both love our children - the more stable their lives will be. We can be more flexible and accommodating with our ex if it results in more collaboration and cooperation when it comes to parenting decisions.
It's certainly worth the effort, don't you think?
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Rosalind Sedacca, CCT, is a trainer and relationship seminar facilitator and the author of the new book, How Do I Tell the Kids ...
about the Divorce? A Create-a-Storybook(TM) Guide to Preparing Your Children - with Love! To learn more about the book, visit http://www.howdoitellthekids.com. For free articles, free ezine and other valuable resources for parents, visit: www.childcentereddivorce.com.
© Rosalind Sedacca 2008. All rights reserved.

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