How to Divorce Without Hurting Your Child: Four Best Tips
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Divorce is emotionally draining, but it’s even harder to cope with if you have a child that’s as stressed about the separation as you are. Even though Randle Palmer & Associates PLLC, your trusted divorce lawyer in Tucson, can guide you through your problem points, easing your child through the process is a different story.
Below, we’ll discuss how to divorce without hurting your child and make the separation as easy to bear as possible.
Careful Communication
Talking to your child honestly and early in the divorce process can help them cope with the change and understand why their parents are separating.
You don’t have to tell them every detail, but explaining why you and your partner are separating and how their family life will change is ideal prepare them for the dramatic shift. However, you must be careful with your words.
Keep a level head, answer your kid’s questions, and don’t slander your ex-partner during your conversation. Following all these communication steps is a crucial tip for how to divorce without hurting your child.
Help Them Through It
Ending a bad marriage will benefit you and your partner, but that doesn’t mean your child sees it that way. They might feel stressed, angry, or even depressed seeing their parents separate, but spending extra time with them alleviates those feelings and shows that their parents still care for them.
Spending extra time on activities your child suggests rather than the ones you plan is even better. It shows that you’re listening to your kid’s needs and that you’ll do whatever it takes to make them happy.
Save Your Arguments for Private Settings
Arguments are impossible to avoid during divorce, but they add to your child’s stress and sadness if you have them within earshot. Though difficult, it’s wise to stop mid-argument and move somewhere private if you have one in a public setting.
Calling an extended family member to look after your kid for a few hours during tense, emotional arguments can also give you the freedom to voice your feelings without fear of upsetting your kid.
Give Your Child Some Control
The dramatic lifestyle changes from the divorce process are hard on single parents, but children have an especially challenging time adjusting when they feel like they have no control. Giving your kid something they can be in charge of can give them a sense of ownership during a stressful time when they feel they have little authority.
That control can be anything from letting them furnish their new room however they want to having them decide weekend plans. Any small way you give them ownership makes a massive impact.
Call Your Trusted Tucson Divorce Lawyers
Hopefully, you now know a little more about how to divorce without hurting your child. If you need further legal advice throughout your divorce, look no further than Randle Palmer & Associates PLLC.
Call our team today at (520) 327-1409 to schedule a consultation or learn what’s best for children when going through a divorce.