Divorce Stress and Children

First of all, you need to always remind your children that this divorce is not their fault. They didn’t do anything to cause it. They can’t do anything to stop it, but this is the decision that you as mom and dad have made to get a divorce. The other thing that’s very important to remember is to not make your child your confidant or your best friend, to talk to them about the things that are going on with the divorce process. They don’t need to hear about what your lawyer told you. They don’t need to hear about when your best friend Susie told you about getting a divorce.

They just need to know that you love them, and your spouse loves them and that even after the divorce is over, you are both going to continue to love them and provide for them going forward. Finally, remember that your child is half you and half your spouse. So, every time you say something ugly about your spouse to your child, you’re telling them that half of them is bad. You don’t want that to happen at the other parent’s house, so it doesn’t need to happen at yours. Children have enough stress going through a divorce without us making them our best friends, our confidant, or sounding board for our frustrations with our spouse.