Sometimes, divorce can be a messy situation to handle, especially when there is a child involved. Hayley Booth, from Oklahoma, however, has no issue co-parenting with her ex-husband, his wife, and her current husband—as they all love their daughter. She left a heartfelt message on Facebook sharing her secret to co-parenting, which has touched many people’s hearts.
In the photo that went viral in 2017, Rachel Elizabeth, 4, is pictured walking to school on her first day with her two “mommies.” She gets to have a “bonus mommy,” Dakota Pitman, after her dad, Caleb Quattrone, and birth mother, Hayley Booth, decided to get a divorce.
This heartwarming photo was posted on Facebook by Rachel’s biological mother, Booth, coupled with an amazing message. “Often times I have people ask me how my ex, his wife, my husband and I co-parent so flawlessly. My answer is always the same—We just love our daughter,” Booth wrote.
Divorce can be difficult for kids to handle. Therefore, Booth wrote, “No child deserves to be tossed around back and forth, used as a bargaining chip, or to be put in the middle of any adult drama. She didn’t choose to be born, and she certainly never chose for her parents to get divorced.”
“Why would we make her life any harder by making her choose which set of parents to love?” she added.
Booth revealed that Rachel calls her stepmother, Pitman, “Mummy,” but she’s absolutely fine with that because Pitman loves Rachel just as she would her own daughter.
“She is there for her always, she takes care of her, she plays with her, she plays with her, she teaches her life lessons and how she should behave, she gives her hugs and kisses goodnight, she does everything any mother would do.. But most of all she loves her like she is her own,” Booth wrote.
“It takes a very special woman to take a child that they didn’t give birth to.”
Booth opined that many women wouldn’t like the idea of letting their child call another woman “mommy,” but she would never do something like that as it would hurt her child deeply.
“You’re being selfish. If you are lucky enough for your ex to have a woman who loves YOUR child or children like their own... why would you not allow them to call a woman they love mommy?” she asked.
She advised couples to “put the petty little things aside” and opt for peaceful co-parenting so as to raise the child to become “the amazing human being they are meant to be.”
On top of that, Booth even thanked “bonus mommy” Pitman, whom she has relied on. “It takes a village to raise a child, and I am beyond thankful for my village! Are you?” she said.
Booth’s touching message was applauded by many netizens. “Such beautiful word from a awesome person inside and out,” Facebook user Georgia M Quattrone commented.
Another user, Tina Rodgers, wrote: “This is what every kid deserves! What awesome parents you all are!”
Parents, do you agree with Booth? If you know of anyone who will benefit from this article, do share it with them!
