Putting their children first! As Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez look forward to their first holiday season together since they rekindled their relationship, the actor’s ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, is helping ease some of the family event planning pressure.
“Jennifer Garner is super accommodating, she makes the juggling a lot easier for everyone to manage,” a source exclusively tells In Touch about the coparenting trio, adding that “the kids get the best of both worlds.”
Ahead of the upcoming holiday season, Lopez, 52, who shares 13-year-old twins Emme and Max with ex-husband Marc Anthony, is making sure to work around her filming schedule in Vancouver when it comes to seeing her loved ones.
“They’re planning to give themselves more time together for Christmas,” the insider notes about Lopez and Affleck, 49, who reconnected earlier this year. “His kids will get a few days with them as well. It will be a blended family holiday for them.”
The Batman star, who shares Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9, with Garner, 49, was previously spotted merging his family with the Hustlers actress’. The duo took their children to several movie screenings and even joined the Alias alum during a trick-or-treating event in their gated Malibu community for Halloween.
After Affleck and Lopez reunited for Thanksgiving this year, the source reveals to In Touch that the pair enjoyed getting to ring in the holidays together again.
“Jen and Ben celebrated Thanksgiving together back in the day when they were engaged, but this one was very different,” the insider says. “It wasn’t as long as they wanted, but it was special because they’ve both grown so much since then.”
The twosome were first linked after meeting on the set of Gigli and were engaged from 2002 to 2004. More than a decade after they first called it quits, Affleck and Lopez sparked dating speculation when they were photographed together following the singer’s relationship with now-ex fiancé Alex Rodriguez in April.
As Lopez and Affleck publicly spent time together with their children, a second source told In Touch that Garner “won’t stand in the way of family.”
“It was Ben’s idea to be open and just let it flow. Jen likes control, she thought that was a bit too loose, but now, looking back, Jen says it was a great decision,” the insider shared in July. “You can’t hide who your ex is dating. Especially if you’re in the business. And Jen has nothing against J. Lo.”
The source also detailed the 13 Going on 30 star’s thoughts on her kids getting to know the Maid in Manhattan‘s twins.
“Whatever happens in the end, Jen thinks her kids getting to know J. Lo, Emme and Max is a good thing. People come into your lives all the time, even if it’s your parents’ lives, and you can’t control it all. That’s just life,” the insider concluded.
As the dancer and the director continue to get more serious, the first source tells In Touch that the couple have “no doubt[s]” when it comes to their future together.
“They’re like two different people, especially Ben, but they know that they belong together,” the insider adds.