Setting boundaries while co-parenting is harder than I expected
I co-parent with my ex, and for the most part we’ve found a rhythm that works. It’s not perfect, but we manage. Lately though, he’s started asking a lot of questions about my personal life. Not just general check-ins, but things like who I’m seeing, where I go when I’m not with our child, and what I’m doing with my time. At first I brushed it off because I didn’t want unnecessary tension, but it kept happening. So recently I told him, calmly, that I’m open about anything that directly affects our child, but my personal life outside of that isn’t something I’m comfortable discussing. That didn’t go down well. He said I’m being secretive and that as a parent, he has a right to know what kind of environment our child is in. I understand where that concern comes from, and I’m not reckless or introducing people into my child’s life casually. But at the same time, it feels like the line between co-parenting and control is getting blurred, and I’m trying to protect that boundary without turning everything into conflict. I’m just trying to figure out how other women handle this balance, because it’s a lot more complicated than I expected.