We're Better Apart: How Coparenting Built Healthier Family

In a culture that insists that marriage is the glue that holds families together, my ex and I discovered that breaking up was the most rebellious choice we could make. Seven years post-split and we are the happiest we’ve ever been. But this wasn’t always the case. The cracks that formed in our marriage were tiny, but they grew into crevasses. Every night, we would tuck our girls into bed, tip toe out of their rooms and meet in the living room. Each of us taking up space on separate couches until the glare of the television put us to sleep. Every night looked eerily similar until the expanse grew so vast that I could hardly recognize him - let alone myself - as we stood on the proverbial cliff. We didn’t shout at each other, we didn’t have flings on the side - we simply grew to dislike each other. Imagine hearing the garage door, and feeling a knot form in your gut as your mind whispers: it’s showtime. I played my part to keep the peace. Until one morning, I was washing dishes at my kitchen sink and looked over at my kids, playing quietly in the living room. My...