co-parents
Jade Small
Jade Small
July 11, 2019 ·  3 min read

This Viral Soccer Game Photo Captures Co-Parenting at Its Best

For the sake of their child’s peaceful upbringing, they are skipping awkward meetings and separate outings to be a united family. 

Co-parenting is difficult on its own, and even more so when new spouses come into the picture as stepparents. However, these couples are aware of the fact that their children’s happiness and well-being are more important than any differences they may have.

The Players and Cazeaus are two families going all out in love and unity to make sure their two children have the happiest childhood ever. What’s cooler than two sets of parents who are in good terms with one another? The families share custody of the child and have been making things work for three years.

Maelyn’s squad

Four-year-old Maelyn Player from Columbus, Georgia, is a soccer player at school, and her entire horde of parents never miss her games. With her mom and Stepdad, Clara and Alex Cazeau, and her dad and stepmom, Ricky and Emilee Player, Maelyn was captured in the most beautiful family soccer game photo that proves co-parenting CAN work. Shared by her stepmom Emilee on Facebook, the lovely photo has received over 35,000 reactions and 88,000 shares since April 2017.

Because of us, I will never believe co-parenting can't work! I KNOW through experience it CAN WORK! Choose to do what's best for your child and everything will just fall into place ❤

Posted by Emilee Player on Saturday, April 15, 2017

Speaking to The Huffington Post, Clara said she had a friend customize four blue soccer shirts for the parents, each one bearing the corresponding title at the back and Maelyn’s Jersey number, 37 [1]. With the parents kneeling behind the field and flanking the child on both sides, the amazing picture was captured and it’s sure to be an inspiration to other couples who may believe that co-parenting is a scam.

Alex, the stepdad, is in the Army and stationed in Fort Bragg, but every time he is home all four of us attend,” Emilee said. “On a regular day it is the three of us, and we make it a point to sit together and cheer her on as a family.”

The support also goes beyond getting together for Maelyn’s games. The parents are friends in every sense of the word. Emilee said Clara was there for her all through her labor with the second child in the family, Everlee.

She came in and checked on me and waited at the hospital until Everlee was born,” Emilee said.

Family is everything

According to Clara, the families literally do everything together, and they seem to enjoy every moment spent in each other’s company.

We do all birthdays together for Maelyn,” she said. “We also go to each other’s birthday dinners with their own families, we do holidays together, we go to one another’s houses, and we are literally always doing things together.”

Clara’s advice to parents who are trying to figure out how to make co-parenting work is to bury the past in the past and let all hard feelings go.

Let go of any past feelings you may have and make it work for the sake of the child,” she said. “Stay strong. It is work every single day to keep this going.”

Speaking to Parents.com, Emilee says that a lot of random people are not happy at how perfect their family is and have tried to discourage their astonishing unity [2].

“[We’ve had] people saying this is not the way things should be and that we are confusing our daughter,” says Emilee. “In my eyes, what we’re doing should be normal. There’s so much hate in this world these days. Our kids deserve to see the love we have towards one another.”

She says Clara has accepted her not as the other woman, but as the other mom and a true friend.

My favorite thing co-parenting with Clara is how accepting she’s been of me being the ‘other’ mom,” Emilee says. “We are really like best friends. You could say we do just about everything together.”

Sources:

  1. Pittman, Taylor. This Viral Soccer Game Photo Shows Co-Parenting At Its Finest. Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/this-viral-soccer-game-photo-shows-co-parenting-at-its-finest_n_58f77669e4b0de5bac42a5e9. Retrieved 10-07-19
  2. Brown, Maressa. This Stepmom’s Viral Photo Captures How Beautiful Co-Parenting Can Be. Parents. https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/everything-kids/this-stepmoms-viral-photo-captures-how-beautiful-co-parenting/. Retrieved 10-07-19
  3. Emilee Player. Facebook. https://web.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158431832845548&set=p.10158431832845548&type=3&theater. Retrieved 10-07-19