While divorce is a painful subject, both emotionally and financially, some families have found a way to co-parent amicably for the greater good of their children, the Shreveport Times reports.

According to the news source, couples must understand, especially when a new relationship is started by an ex-spouse, that putting aside differences and being flexible can help in co-parenting children and child custody arrangements.

Tom and Robin Williams have been divorced more than seven years, but the parents told the publication that they decided early on to put aside their conflicts to raise their child, Laura, in a happy environment.

“What happened between the parents is between the parents and has nothing to do with the child whatsoever,” Tom Williams explained. “There shouldn’t be any reason why they should grow up feeling some kind of hostility from one parent or another.”

According to Bradford Gioia in a recent column for the Tennessean, parents staying together is not always the best option. He reminisced that his parents separated when he was 11 years old but reunited less than two years later. Thirty years after the reunion, they were officially divorced, and Gioia believes they would have been happier parents had they just divorced and began new lives.

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