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Providing stability and support for children during divorce

On Behalf of | Nov 2, 2022 | Divorce

One of the major challenges Florida parents who are getting divorced usually face is how to provide stability and support for their children. While this can be a challenging time, they can do a variety of things to reassure their children as the divorce unfolds.

Offer love and support

During and after the divorce, children might experience a range of emotions that can affect their well-being. They might struggle with anger, fear, confusion and guilt about the end of their parents’ marriage. They might lash out at their parents and even at others close to them. However, if you are a parent in this situation, you can help your children work through these emotions in a variety of ways, including:

• Telling and showing them that you love them
• Spending time with them so they can talk to you openly about their feelings
• Allowing them to ask questions and responding honestly, in an age-appropriate manner
• Creating a safe space for them to grieve the loss of their family unit
• Providing them with professional help such as therapy

Prioritizing stability

Stability involves both physical and emotional areas. While your love and support can help children remain emotionally stable, you can also create a stable environment for them to grow. Some of the ways you can do this include:

• Keeping their familiar routines, including extracurricular activities and chores around the house
• Being consistent with the rules and consequences in both homes
• Disrupting their schedules as minimally as possible and explaining clearly when these schedules do need to be disrupted
• Creating specific moments of whole-family time to show the children that both their parents are still there for them

Helping children through this process will also often need to be a collaborative effort between the parents. Minimizing fights and conflicts, speaking kindly about each other and presenting a unified front with the children will help during this process.