A woman has revealed how she moved into a ‘mommune’ with three other single mothers after getting divorced.
Kristin Batykefer, from Florida, was a well-known ‘van influencer’ with her ex-husband Will Watson, but the couple split after she accused her ex of cheating on her with a woman they had been traveling with.
After leaving her partner, with whom she had been in a relationship for nine years, Kristin made friends with other single mothers and moved to a commune.
Posting to her TikTok channel under the name @beachykefer, she featured a video with the caption: “When it’s your weekend without the kids but you live in a momma, this is how you spend it,” followed by clips of her and others singles. mothers drinking and partying together.
One video, in which the women were seen dancing together in the crowd, was titled: “Concerts with the best dates.”
He also said the group has “movie nights” and “lounge days at home,” as well as “occasionally (going out of) our comfort zones doing karaoke.”
“Being a mother is a superpower and living in a house with three moms is tremendously powerful,” she wrote, while encouraging other single mothers to try the experience for themselves.
Reacting to her video, other TikTok users were intrigued by the concept of “mom,” and many seemed eager to try it for themselves.
One user wrote: ‘Love this for you. “I wish all of us single moms had so much community.”
A second posted: ‘Oh my god. living the damn dream. I’m jealous’.
Another envious response read: “As if I need this so much you have no idea.”
Meanwhile, a fourth joked: ‘Sign me up for this! I just have to have the child first. I try but it’s been a struggle but can I still be friends?
A divorced mother has revealed that she lives in a ‘mommune’ with other single mothers when she has a weekend without her children
After leaving her partner, with whom she had been in a relationship for nine years, Kristin made friends with other single mothers and moved to a commune.
Kristin’s marriage fell apart in 2022 and she lost her job, leaving her with no income and nowhere to go.
Two friends took her and her daughter, now 5, to their home near Jacksonville, Florida. Not long after Batykefer’s best friend, Tessa Gilder, divorced her and also moved in with her two children, now five and one.
Now Batykefer, 33, shares her “mother” life with her 50,000 followers, as women pool resources to raise their families.
Kristin Batykefer (right) and Tessa Gilder (left) live in a momuna with their three children.
In 2022, there were 10.9 million single-parent families with a child under age 18 in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Of these single-parent families, 80 percent were headed by a mother.
Batykefer said The New York Times: ‘When I had to leave my husband, the only thing I could think about was how now I had to figure out how to do everything on my own: buy a house on my own, pay my bills on my own, and raise my son on my own. mine.
‘I never thought about finding another single mother to live with and do it together. We just fell into it. But now I wonder: why isn’t it more common for us to join forces?
Batykefer, whose divorce was finalized in February and now shares custody of her daughter with her ex-husband, is grateful that Gilder’s daughter is the same age so the children will always have someone to play with.
She uses her social media presence to document how the women divide the responsibilities of caring for the three children who live at home.
in a tiktok postBatykefer detailed how when she fell ill, the three other women in the house made her cookies from scratch and homemade vegetable soup, and took their children to the park so she could rest and recover.
“This is your cue to move to a momuna,” he wrote.
She also gives advice to other people and encourages them to create their own mom.
In another video, she said, “If you’re a single mom, I would say find another single mom that you align with in values ​​and then talk to her about it.”
Batykefer also shows the advantages of living with other women, meaning she can visit the beach and go to concerts without worrying about the childcare responsibilities that come with being a single mother.
Batykefer and Gilder also signed a deal with a television producer for a reality show.
They currently still live in the four-bedroom home near Jacksonville, but hope to use the program’s funds to purchase and remodel their own home for repairs over the next year.
Batykefer uses social media to document how women divide childcare responsibilities.
Women are not alone in their arrangement, and the setup is certainly not a novel idea.
Mothers, particularly those from non-white communities, have shared homes for centuries.
But as many people experienced a restructuring of their living situation during the pandemic, new light has been shed on households with non-traditional living structures.
Grace Bastidas, editor in chief of Parents.com, said The New York Times: ‘In Latin cultures, there is the idea of ​​a co-mother: a person who supports you and helps you raise your children.
“At the height of the pandemic, we all started creating these groups of people, so this is just another iteration of that type of partnership.”
She continued: ‘We’re told it takes a village, but it’s not always there, and single mothers especially are juggling rising living costs and shrinking childcare options.
“This is part of a broader trend of parents pushing the traditional boundaries of what a family is and taking matters into their own hands to find creative solutions.”
Last year, Holly Harper of Washington, D.C., detailed how she bought a four-unit apartment building with her friend Herrin Hopper after separating from her partner of 17 years in 2018 and selling their family home.
She called the agreement a “paradise for children.”
Batykefer, whose divorce was finalized in February and now shares custody of her daughter with her ex-husband.
Holly Harper detailed how she bought a house with her friend Herrin Hopper for their families
In an essay published by Well-informed person She explained that she knew it would be impossible to find a duplex or condo in the area on her “single mom, self-employed budget,” but she wanted to have something as an investment.
“In order to do this, I found another single mother with the same needs as mine (space, comfort, a home) to live with,” she wrote. “It has been life-changing not only for us but for our children as well.”
Harper, who has a daughter, said she always longed for a family community like the ones she sees on her favorite television shows. After her divorce, she “vowed to be open to unique opportunities” and, in this case, a unique living situation.
In a twist of fate, one of her closest friends not only separated from her husband around the same time she got divorced, but also shared her ‘commune dream’.
However, they did not make the decision lightly. Harper explained that they approached the arrangement “like choosing a platonic spouse.”