Co-parenting children can be hard sometimes. However, as one of the most visible blended families aside from Kimora Lee Simmons’ tribe has proven, it can also be easy if all parties put in the effort.
Swizz Beatz, wife Alicia Keys and ex-wife Mashonda Tifrere are a testament to the fact that a rocky co-parenting experience can eventually smooth out and be replaced with peace and love. In fact, Tifrere put this all into word-form in her new book, Blend: The Secret to Co-Parenting and Creating a Blended Family, in which Keys wrote the forward.
The parenting trio then took their story to Good Morning America‘s Michael Strahan to talk about their journey. “Our family’s one big beautiful family,” Keys said, as Tifrere smiled in agreement. “We love each other. I mean, we hang out with each other. We go to dinner together. We’re doing Thanksgiving, we’re doing the holidays. It is a beautiful partnership.”
Not only did they share the growth they’ve experienced, but also how Mashonda and Swizz’s son, Kasseem, was their wake up call that they had to bring the family together. “He was, you know, acting out in his own little way,” Tifrere said. “He had some issues in school. He wanted to know why I couldn’t go see him at his dad’s, and why can’t his dad come over and see his bedroom at our house.”
“Like, we’ve got to do better, we’ve got to figure this out,” she continued. “Even if we don’t want to for ourselves right now, we have to do it for him, cause he doesn’t deserve this.”
The trio’s hope is that the book, which Swizz says is “a very positive step forward,” will help other families struggling to make it work. Watch the GMA segment here.
READ MORE: Swizz Beatz Urges Men To Stop Being Jealous Of Their Successful Wives