Over the last several months this blog has covered a lot of different topics for people interested in children and divorce issued. This week I’d like to talk about how you can prepare yourself and your kids for your divorce. Preparing for a divorce is a critical step in surviving the divorce process as a functional family unit.
Preparations for your divorce need to start before you announce to your kids that you are getting divorced. These preparations need to be made by you and your parenting partner. You both need to discuss how the divorce is going to impact how you share your parenting responsibilities both during and after the divorce and how the divorce is going to impact how your kids interact with both of their parents. It is important to make these preparations before you talk to your kids so that you will have answers to their questions.
Step two is to sit your kids down and talk to them about your plans to get a divorce. It is important for both parents to be involved in this discussion. Both parents need to be available to answer questions and to reassure your kids that everything is going to turn out okay, that they are loved and that they will still be able to spend a lot of time with each of their parents. During this discussion you will want to talk about what a divorce is, what the living arrangements are going to be like and where your kids can go for more information or for refuge during the divorce process. The refuge is a place, like grandma’s house, that the kids can go to when they are overwhelmed by the divorce process and feel that they need a break.
