A mum and her new partner have bought a house with her ex partner and all their kids after years of domestic bliss all living under one roof.
When Lindsay Taylor, 35, and her ex husband Chris Kelley, 38, split up, they remained good friends, co-parenting their two children.
She went on to marry new hubby Mike, 52, but they all remained close – so moved into one five-bed home to raise their collective kids.
The massive family said the set up has worked so well, that when it was time to look for a bigger home, they did it together, and are preparing to move again as a team.
The trio from Putnam, Connecticut, live with Lindsay’s daughter from a previous marriage, Rachel, 19.
There is also Lindsay and Chris’ kids Joanna, five, and Lucas, seven, who has a rare autoimmune disease, and her child with Mike, a three-year-old called Harrison.
They spoke to new podcast Real Fix about their unusual set up, and admitted while it’s not always easy, it allows them to split the bills and spend more time with their kids.
Lindsay told the podcast which features real life stories: “Everything we’ve done has been for the kids and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that anything, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, is possible, if you try hard enough to make it work.
“Chris is very open minded, so for him, this wasn’t a big deal at all – it just made sense.
“He said ‘’Why don’t you both move in with me? We can pay one mortgage, one set of bills and keep all the kids together?’.”
Chris said: “It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.
“We had a child that was sick and I felt he needed his mother here and I just wanted to make it work at whatever cost.
“I don’t have any problems with Mike whatsoever, I think he’s a really good guy so why not.”
However Mike found the new living arrangement harder to adjust to, admitting he felt uncomfortable for a while after they moved in.
Mike, who also has two older grown up kids, said: “It felt awkward – I said to Chris ‘if I was in your shoes I don’t think I could have done the same thing’.
“I do feel comfortable now.”
Lindsay said her six-year marriage to Chris began to crumble toward the end of her pregnancy with Joanna in 2015, and the pair divorced the next year.
She met Mike at a gig and they got together in 2016, and moved in together, but were unexpectedly evicted from their home shortly after.
It was then Chris, a cinema manager, made his unexpected offer – asking them if they wanted to move into his five-bed house.
Their son Lucas has a rare immunodeficiency disorder, chronic granulomatous disease or CGD, and he requires a sterile closed home, so the set up was perfect.
Speaking to the podcast, which features real people telling their extraordinary stories in their own words, Lindsay said: “We started to look for another place, but Chris made a suggestion that no-one was expecting – the stars aligned.,
Mike and Lindsay tied the knot in a beach ceremony, when she was pregnant with baby Harrison, now three.
Shortly after, in October, Lucas underwent a bone marrow transplant which it is hoped will regenerate his immune system and cure him from CGD.
His condition has meant the family isolated for two years, and living in the same house prevented moving the children around.
Lindsay said: “We didn’t want to shuffle them around from house to house, plus we were in isolation for two years when Lucas was sick.
“They didn’t go to school for two years and it was really tough.
“Lucas’ immune system is so fragile right now that we need to limit his exposure to the outside world, and this means as a family we need to do this as well.
“It’s a big sacrifice that everyone is making but hopefully it will all be for the best when Lucas gets better.”
The time came to move into a bigger house – and instead of looking for two homes, they shopped and bought one together.
They are looking forward to moving into the new big family home soon, and would advise other modern families to consider living together too.
Lindsay, Chris and Mike spoke to the team at the Real Fix podcast.
- Listen to the Real Fix podcast here https://www.real-fix.com/real-fix-podcast/ or subscribe using the appropriate podcast platform here https://plnk.to/realfix