MamaSpeak: Why Co-Parenting Matters to Me

Co-Parenting matters, because my child has something important to contribute to this world.

He is this brilliant brown burst of pure energy that challenges me moment by moment to be better, do better. He is charming and cool. He is witty, and mischievous and even a little bit corny sometimes. He wants to be a scientist, a musician, a professional soccer player and a daddy. He is a know-it-all and thinks that he is the boss of me. He is creative in his efforts to thwart his bedtime asking at the last minute, “Just real quick, can we Google the secret of happiness, because Leonardo da Vinci says it’s curiousity; and I just don’t know if it’s true.” And, it works. He is happy and resilient and passionate and dramatic and…

And, in the wee hours, when I watch him sleeping, I remember how perfect he is (particularly when he is not talking to me, whining or otherwise getting on my fragile nerves). I see clearly that there is nothing but possibility for this child. I believe in my heart of hearts that he has something brilliant and important and powerful to share with this world.

And, I don’t want to get in the way.

I’m clear that he would be able to thrive with or without both of us in his life partnering to parent him. I know that we will never get it perfect, and one day as hormones rage through his adolescent body, and he doesn’t agree with some parental decree, we may still be blamed for ruining his life. But, selfishly, my hope remains that when that time passes, and he is a man, powerfully being who he is meant to be, he will say that he is who he is not despite his parents’ relationship but, at least in part, as a positive result of it.

Co-parenting matters to me, because my child has something important to contribute to this world. And, that matters.

Why does co-parenting matter to you?

Join us this Sunday, October 25^th at 9:30pm EST for the debut of our new talk show, Co-Parenting Matters.  I’ll be co-hosting with my friends Deesha Philyaw and Mike Thomas of CoParenting101.org.
Listen live and join the discussion at (646) 378-0580 or www.blogtalkradio.com/CoParentingMatters.

Talibah Mbonisi, founder of WeParent, is a Marketer by trade, a problem solver by nature and a mother by grace. She is also an unmarried co-parent navigating the path that will lead to a happy, healthy son, and a fulfilled, balanced Mama and Daddy.

Read more articles by Talibah Mbonisi