Author: tdhughes17

The greatest gift a parent can give their child is to love the other parent. You don’t need to be in love with your co-parent – or even necessarily like them – in order to love them. Kids learn what they live. Teaching them to love others and be respectful of others is a gift that will help them to engage in healthy relationships. Your children are a part of both parents and continuous negative opinions about the other parent resonates with the child. Your child will wonder if you dislike those same qualities in them.

Divorce is very stressful for all members of the family. I believe parents always want what is best for their children, however, during stressful times, our judgment is clouded. It often seems parents forget that children do not have the ability to process all of the issues related to the divorce as quickly as adults. Children do not have the emotional maturity needed to understand that couples can fall out of love but still love their children. One of the most pressing questions from children is “will my mom or dad stop loving me?” They also worry about hurting their parent’s feelings, so often the children are not completely honest when asked for their input about a parenting plan. Parents want to set up two households and expect the children…