When parents are getting a divorce, there are some things they can do to make it easier on their kids.

Sometimes, marriages just do not work out for families in Arizona. An unfortunate fact of divorce is that regardless of the reasons behind it, children in the family may not fully understand what is happening. Parents who care about the mental health of their kids will want to do their best to make things as easy to handle as they can. Those filing for divorce can take some important steps to make sure that children are affected as little as possible by
custody arrangements or the separation itself.

Stay sensitive to their emotions

The breakup of a family is going to be emotional for all concerned parties, but especially children. While there may be a lot of unpleasant emotions between the parents, the best way of proceeding is to keep those feelings away from kids, who can be quite impressionable. It can be almost automatically, that a parent may seek comfort from their children but this is not a good idea. Instead, parents should turn to other family, professionals and friends. It is also better to have any legal talk and heated discussions concerning the other spouse privately, as such conversations will only put kids under unneeded stress.

Maintain a parent-child relationship

Both parents need to be there for their children. Even though they no longer live under the same roof, parents should make it a point to stay involved in their children’s lives. The noncustodial parent can use a communication application to connect with the child electronically and should try to attend as many school events concerning the child as possible. Conversations should focus on the child with questions that center on how the child is doing in school, how his or her day was and other interests. The parent should not probe the child for information about the other parent or discuss the other parent unless to say something positive.

Talk to them together with the other parent

It is important for kids to know that their parents are divorcing before they hear about it from someone else, but it may be a difficult conversation to have. To ease the impact, parents should try to talk to their children together as this will present a unified front. When having the conversation, parents can use the following tips:

• Kids should know that their parents will still be their parents, even when separated, and that they are still loved.
• Rather than hide the difficulty, it should be admitted that everyone will be dealing with upsetting feelings.
• An important thing to remember is that kids need to know it is not their fault that a divorce is happening.
• Parents should be as straightforward with their children as possible without going into too much detail concerning the legal process.

Even though it may be hard to start up the conversation with a child, it will be worse and even harder on the child if the parents wait until the last minute to tell them.

If people in the Phoenix are dealing with divorce, they may find the representation and advice of an experienced family law attorney helpful.