Regent Square resident Deesha Philyaw and her husband, Forest Hills resident Michael Thomas, divorced in 2006. Ever since, they’ve managed to maintain a healthy, symbiotic co-parenting relationship.

They especially wanted to remain close for the sake of their two girls, six-year-old Taylor and 10-year-old Paeyton.

After they split, Thomas received a lot of positive feedback from co-workers and friends concerning his successful co-parenting dynamic with his ex-wife. He approached Philyaw about possibly writing a book.

“I’ve always been a writer, so I took the bull by the horns,” Philyaw said.

She figured the best platform for their potential book would be a blog—one that connects people who are in similar situations as themselves, a blog where co-parents and blended families can share their stories with others.

Now, that blog, coparenting101.org, is becoming a book about co-parenting by the divorced couple that will be published in the spring of 2013 by New Harbinger Publishers.

In June of 2008, Philyaw and her ex-husband launched the website coparenting101.org. The site provides resources for single parents whose ex-spouses won’t cooperate with them, for people dating co-parents, for co-parents who just started dating, and much more.

They’ve found that their personal stories resonated with many more different people than they expected.

“The site has made us better co-parents,” Philyaw said. “When problems arise, I’m more thoughtful now and less reactive. And it’s made me appreciate Michael as a co-parent even more.”

Not only has their site helped them, but so many other co-parents around the nation and right here in the neighborhood.

Local resident Gretchen Zelinksy has been using the site for almost a year now. She and her husband divorced about two years ago.

The two live only a mile apart and manage to both remain active in their children's lives. Zelinksy, her ex-husband, and their two daughters Julia and Olivia Zelinksy, spend holidays and vacations together each year. Their family benefits greatly from the stories, resources and recommendations on coparenting101.org.

“So many questions I have are answered on the site,” Zelinksy said.