Issues that children have with divorce

When planning out your divorce in Arizona, it’s crucial to think about how it’s going to impact your children so that you can do everything in your power to make it easier for them. It’s been shown that staying together for the kids is not actually good advice in a lot of situations, especially if abuse is involved, but you also don’t want to neglect your children’s feelings entirely. Below are a few common issues that children have with divorce:

— They keenly feel the loss of the way life used to be. They miss the “good old days” when everything seemed perfect. This could simply be because they didn’t see the negative things going on behind the scenes, but it’s still how they feel.

— They think that the good memories they have are fake or that they’re illusions. They start to question times that were authentically fun and enjoyable. They may feel like their trust has been violated.

— They can often feel embarrassed. This is especially true if they don’t have other friends with divorced parents, so they feel like outsiders, like it reflects poorly on them. They can also be embarrassed at their parents’ dating habits after the split, especially when a parent strikes up a relationship with a person not much older than the child.

— They may be mad that their parents now need support and help from them. This feels like a role reversal, and children who are going through their own issues can feel burdened.

Now, this isn’t to say you shouldn’t split up. However, when making a custody plan, communicating with your spouse, or deciding how to proceed in court, just take a moment to think about the impact of each decision on your children.

Source: Huffington Post, “At What Age is Your Divorce Easiest on Your Children? (Did You Guess the Older Ones?),” Vicki Lansky, accessed June 07, 2016

Tags: divorce