Top Ten Ways to Help Your Child through Your Separation/Divorce

Tell your child the truth about the divorce. Children need simple and honest answers they can understand without making anyone seem wrong or bad.
Reassure your child that you both still love him or her and that the decision is not their fault.
Children need to be able to love both parents. Do not put your child in a position of having to take sides.
Keep your child out of your communication with your ex-partner. Do not ask your child to be a messenger.
Honor your parenting agreements. Do not make plans for your child on the other parent's scheduled time.
Listen attentively and non-judgmentally to your child's feelings and concerns.
Maintain schedules and predictable routines.
If your child is having difficulty adjusting, investigate counseling and support groups for children whose parents are no longer together.
Allow your child to be a child. Do not burden him or her with financial worries or a sense of responsibility for your well-being
Take care of yourself physically and emotionally. Your child needs you!

Parents Apart©: Helping Children Cope With Separation and Divorce is a workshop that covers topics such as how children react emotionally to their parents' separation and divorce, what parents can do to help their children adjust, how to keep children out of their parents' conflict, how to parent well after divorce, skills for listening to children and understanding the mediation/legal process.

The workshop meets for a total of 6 hours, either for two 3-hour weekday sessions (6pm-9pm) or for one Saturday session (9am-4pm with a one-hour break). For more information or to register, please call 272-2292, ext 243. Parents Apart© is held monthly and the registration process is confidential.