Real Co-Parents: Moncerratt Villalobos

Moncerratt is a mom of two who says TalkingParents has reduced her anxiety and helped her co-parenting communication become calmer and more accountable.

• 3 min watch
• real co-parents

Moncerratt Villalobos has two children with her ex-partner. They were together for about six years before separating.

“The reason for our separation was infidelity while our son was going through chemotherapy treatments in 2021. We were already in a rocky space in our relationship, and I felt it was best for us to just go our separate ways and figure out how to co-parent during our son’s diagnosis.”

She says their dynamic was mutually hostile from the beginning, with emotions running high on both ends.

“There was a lot to handle, like wanting to take control of the situation and learning how to set boundaries so both of us could maintain a healthy situation. Since it was all still so fresh, we didn’t know how to communicate effectively or compromise on how to be there for our kids.”

With her son’s treatments, managing their children’s schedules was a major challenge as well.

“During my son’s first year of chemo, we were basically living in the hospital. Since I was a stay-at-home mom, I was able to take care of what I needed to with our son while his father went to work, and then our family members took care of our daughter. It was very hard to communicate during that time, especially with going to these appointments and trying to figure out how to move forward.”

Moncerratt said she first learned about TalkingParents from a friend who worked with co-parents. She suggested to her co-parent that they give the app a try, and they continued using it.

I feel like the moment we started using it, it kept each of us accountable. We were going through a custody battle, so we didn’t want to say the wrong things once everything was recorded. It held us accountable to maintain a level ground, and our communication did start improving.

While their appointments have lightened since her son became cancer-free in 2024, Moncerratt says she still leans on the Shared Calendar to stay on top of her children’s schedules.

“I feel like I have mom brain, where I’m always forgetting certain dates and times. I add any event our kids have to the calendar, even if my co-parent isn’t technically using it... It’s more for me to hold myself accountable so I don’t miss any appointments.”

Now, she says the app has improved their children’s lives by helping her and their dad keep interactions focused.

“If children see any discomfort or awkwardness between their parents, then they start to feel it too. Now, we strictly maintain communication through the app, and our in-person interactions are limited to custody exchanges. I feel that our kids no longer feel uncomfortable with exchanges since TalkingParents has helped us keep things cool and calm, so I think that’s a win in itself.”

In addition to helping her kids, Moncerratt says TalkingParents has given her peace of mind in her co-parenting dynamic.

“Since using TalkingParents, I noticed that my anxiety has leveled out to where I don’t feel like my emotions are really high. Now, when I receive a message notification, I’m cool as a cucumber. I just open my messages, know that I can respond however I want to, and no longer feel the anxiety I know co-parents often feel.”

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