What to Know
If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like when co-parents get along and parent their child in a healthy, happy way—look no further than this TikTok, which is going viral for all the right reasons. TikTok user @angelehlers_ shares the cutest story about her five-year-old daughter making friends with her mom, her dad, and her mom’s fiancé. Co-parenting win all around.
“My daughter’s dad and I really pride ourselves in the fact that we have not fought in front of her since she was six months old,” the mom begins the video. “We don’t talk crap on the other parent in front of her, so she has no idea why we wouldn’t all be friends or why we wouldn’t all hang out.”
She describes a holiday gathering where she, her daughter, and her fiancé were at her ex’s house to celebrate. Her ex’s girlfriend was there too, and everyone was getting along because that’s what this family does. The little girl grabs her mom’s fiancé and asks him to close his eyes because she has a “surprise for him.” What happens next is SO cute.
Can you just picture these two grown men holding hands and reminiscing about the good ol’ days all at the behest of a five-year-old girl they both love and would never disappoint? It’s basically like a chaste, hetero, Hallmark version of Heated Rivalry.
Reading the comments, it’s very clear that this video touched the hearts of many.
One person shared, “I think she’s plotting a re-coupling.” Another wrote, “The fact that they held hands no questions asked is actually so sweet.” Someone else shared, “She’s trying to combine the friend groups.”
“She wants you to have 2 boyfriends… and she wants the boyfriends to be boyfriends too,” one person joked. Another commenter summed up why this is so touching, writing, “Okay but that is genuinely like such a healthy way to co parent you should be very proud of yourself.”
Young kids don’t understand the nuances of adult relationships, but they are little experts at reading the room and picking up on our emotions—good and bad. When split-up parents can share space calmly (and even happily) it lowers a child’s stress and anxiety levels, because even though their parents aren’t together, they’re all peacefully co-existing.
Less anxiety means better sleep, fewer behavioral issues, and more emotional bandwidth for what 5-year-olds are supposed to be doing: playing, learning, imagining, and growing.
And when you consider the long game lessons being learned here, it’s so worth it because this kiddo is being taught what a healthy relationship looks like, even if it’s not “traditional.”
“She loves to do it [make them hold hands] and they both will do it, no questions asked,” the mom says. “I don’t know, but I’m pretty proud of us for thinking we’re all just little besties.”
