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Drew Barrymore is trying to figure out how to be the best co-parent she can be.
Since ending their nearly four year marriage in August, Barrymore and ex-husband Will Kopelman are working on making their new lives apart work for their two daughters Olive, four, and Frankie, two.
This past Saturday, Barrymore was honored for her work in children's welfare with the Courage to Care award at the 2016 Children's Hospital of Los Angeles Once Upon a Time Gala.
While on the red carpet she opened up about what she thinks is the key to successful co-parenting.
“I think plans,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “Constant plans. We, as a family, have three dates for this Halloween.”
And experts agree with Barrymore on the importance of continuing to do things as a family.
Tina B. Tessina, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and relationship expert told The Bump, that it's important for children of divorce to still feel like they're part of a family.
"You can be as distant and pleasant as you would be with a stranger if you have to," Tessina said. "Your kids still need and want to belong to a family."
Barrymore says it's not only plans between the immediate family that are important for her personally.
She explains the morning she woke up to an email from Kopelman's mother Coco looking to lock down a date for a birthday party that worked for Barrymore because as her former mother-in-law put it, "It's not the same without you". Barrymore says that the love and acceptance she feels "means the world to me".
"Families are many different definitions in this day and age," says Barrymore.
She says the key is to "just be a family" whatever that might mean for you.
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