This past weekend was the release of Disney+’s new interpretation of Cheaper By The Dozen. It stars Gabrielle Union and Zack Braff as part of a twelve-member family, The Bakers. They are composed of one mom, one dad, nine kids, a cousin, and two dogs. While just the everyday struggles of trying to keep the everyday events of the family are quite entertaining, there is one important aspect of the family that is showcased very well, co-parenting.

When Zoey and Paul get together, they are both divorcees with kids. Like many families around the world, that usually means that they will have to work together with their spouse’s previous partners in raising their children. This can be very challenging as now there are a lot of times different opinions on how children should be raised. Even their presence around one another sometimes causes tension. Heck, this is all assuming that they are on good terms.

To me personally, this is important as I co-parent with my former spouse. Now we both are in happy relationships and work together to make sure our daughter is being raised correctly in our eyes. Cheaper By The Dozen does a great job at showcasing the challenges and benefits of co-parenting. Something that is important for all to see as it could help eliminate the stigma that co-parenting is always dramatic.

Cheapter By The Dozen & Co-Parenting

During a recent press event for Cheaper By The Dozen that LRM Online attended, the cast commented on the importance of this kind of representation and how it is a lot more normal than people like to admit.

Union commented about how even the word traditional can be used in a negative context in this day and age. “More and more, you see these blended families having to, you know, co-parent, multi-generational families all living under one roof. This is the norm. You know? I believe like when folks started using the word ‘traditional’ families, I think that’s just meant to shame. To shame folks for surviving, basically.” Said Union. “This is a movie that calls all families in, and says, you know what? You will find someone that you can relate to, that looks like you. That feels like your family somewhere in this movie.”

Erika Christensen plays Paul’s Ex Kate in the film and is very active in their family. She talked about how she enjoyed Cheaper By The Dozen‘s showcasing how things between co-parents can work well if you have a kids come first mentality and the steps that you can take to make that work. “It makes me so happy. It just gives me so much hope to see that the kids come first. So, we put everything else aside and make it work.” Said Christensen. “Remember the things that made us love each other in the first place. Find humor in all the ways that we disagree and just put the kids first. So that’s clearly what’s happening with this dynamic. It makes perfect sense that Kate and Paul are no longer married.”

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Timon Kyle Durrett plays Zoey’s Ex, Dom, who in Cheaper By The Dozen is trying to be more active in his kids’ lives. Durrett adds to Christensen’s comments. Talking about the egos that can get in the way of making it work, and how the film showcases growth in that sense. “I like that the film it touches on a level of acceptance and humility that I think is representative of what a lot of people should get an understanding of. Because sometimes the ego can be fragile and hurt. But then, you see like, there are certain parts that Zach and I have that are very personal to me because of things that I’ve witnessed in my family in my life. I think Dom represents an aspect of the family dynamic that I think some people are starting to miss.”

While representing color and nationality is important, it is just as important to show different family structures to showcase that they can work. With films like Cheaper By The Dozen, we can see that co-parenting can be a lot more than just trying to one-up one another. It can be just a bigger family.

Cheaper By The Dozen is now available exclusively on Disney+.