0 commentsEvery year thousands of families go through the process of marital divorce. This process is hard on everyone in the family, and especially hard on kids. One of the strategies that you can use to make things easier for your kids to deal with your divorce is to communicate effectively with them. While this strategy can be very helpful it can also be very difficult to execute properly. Here are a few tips that will help you out.
The first step is to understand the communication styles of your kids. Some kids are very talkative and will want to discuss what is going to happen and what they want to get out the process, while others are more introverted. It is important to format your communications so that they will reach your children of divorce.
If you have teenagers then communication is going to be an issue. They are nearly adults now and want to be treated as such. However, they may not be mature enough to handle the reality of why you are getting divorced or how painful it is going to be for everyone involved. A good way to approach teenagers is to first assess their maturity level. If you have a mature teen then you can engage them in a thoughtful, honest and frank conversation about your divorce plans. On the other hand, if you have a teen that is not ready for this level of communication then you can scale it back to a level that is more appropriate for them. Whatever method you use remember to get their feedback and to listen to what they have to say. Communication, after all, is a two way process.
