The benefits of staying friendly with your ex wife.

[danno]

Apart from the obvious, that it's better for our son that we are still friends, the other benefit is that she has transport and took us all to visit my parents at the weekend.

 

[jason]

I think you could get more "bonus" then fighting with them. I have not been in that situation, but when you are fighting you typically bad mouth each other, and do whatever you can to make each other suffer. In turn the child suffers. My brother fought the battle of his wife's ex and the games he played. Once he sat back and said let him play his games, both the courts and his child seemed to see what was going on. Granted, the games are still played, and his wife does not always win, but the kids sometimes still think the grass is greener on the other side.

 

[Davidson]

While it might be better and I can't speak from personal experience you also need to consider the circumstance under which you divorced. For example if the reason were that she cheated on you, it would make it increasingly difficult to still be friends with her, at least in my opinion.

 

[crowl]

It is without a doubt the hardest thing a parent will face (without the lose of a child or their partner). I know many people who split on bad terms and for the sake of the chilld/kids will never bad mouth the other parent even if the parent deserves it. I know its gotta be rough but you have to remember, it does not help the child to hear about the mistakes (esp. the really bad ones) that their parents have made and its never good for the parent telling the bad stuff and spilling the beans as the kid will always remember it too.

You do not need to be friends or best buds, you just need to be parents.