Divorce is hard. It’s “a sad state of affairs” I used to walk around saying when I was going through it.
But divorce when you have kids isn’t just about you and your spouse. Your kids are a huge part of the whole process too.
My son is 6 and will tell you “Me and Mommy and Daddy make up our family but Daddy lives somewhere else”. He also knows I love his dad because he is his daddy but he has no idea the horrible gut wrenching times I went through when I knew it was time to get out. But how do we navigate through divorce and what are the correct things to do and say to our kids?
How do we answer the BIG QUESTION? WHY?
Experts agree that less is more. Telling them the details of adult problems should never be something kids hear. Keep it simple and keep repeating it so they begin to understand “Mom and Dad have tried very, very hard but just can’t get along, so we have decided to live apart.”
Keep away any blame, any anger and be confident when you tell them you are still a family, you just choose to live apart so everyone can be happy.
Of course reminding your kids that they are loved and it has nothing to do with them is critical.
Read more HERE.
What did you say to your children when you separated? Would you have done/said things differently? If so, how?
