What Nobody Tells You About Being an Adult Child of Divorce Right before my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, an adult close to their relationship told my dad that he needed to get a divorce. That “adult” was none other than me, his then-22-year-old daughter. My dad’s relationship with my mom had started souring
In my last blog post I suggested that sending mediation clients off to separate attorneys was not being helpful. In response to this proposition one reader, an attorney and mediator from California, suggested that I had a low opinion of attorneys. I hope not. I have been a proud member
I’ve faced many difficult moments in my life. Who hasn’t? But preparing to tell my son that I will be divorcing his father was absolutely one of the worst. The emotions surging through my body were overwhelming. Deep, gut-wrenching fear. Continuous anxiety. Incredible guilt. And the oppressive weight of shame. My son, after all, was
For children of divorce moving between homes is stressful enough without the transfers themselves being upsetting. There are many ways in which parents can turn simple transfers into real nightmares. If your transfers are unnecessarily stressful following these tips for minimizing your child’s parent-to-parent transfer: General Tips Keep your child’s transfer as brief as possible
When families “blend” to create stepfamilies, things rarely progress smoothly. Some children may resist changes, while parents can become frustrated when the new family doesn’t function like their previous family. While changes to family structure require adjustment time for everyone involved, these guidelines can help blended families work out their growing pains and live together
In week six of Children of Divorce and Changing Families’ 8-week program, we do an exercise where we ask each child in the 10-12 year old group to create a set of rules that they wish their parents would follow to ease post divorce stresses. The rules they write privately are then shared with the
Divorced parents who fail to fulfill their responsibilities to their children stand to lose guardianship under a proposed law that requires both the mother and father to share custody. The Law Reform Commission in 2005 recommended that a law be introduced requiring divorced parents to share custody of their children in the future. This would
Divorce is not an easy process especially when you have kids. It’s hard on the couple that is undergoing this emotional and extreme life-changing event. It’s harder even still on the children of this couple. Often times the children of a divorcing couple can be, the hardest hurdle to surmount. Parents are grownups. They are more apt
The new school year is quickly approaching and its time to start preparing. If you and your co-parents both take part in the upbringing of your child than this can be a challenging task. Preparing your child for a new school year requires a lot of coordination and cooperation between you and your co-parent. This
The word “divorce” does not conjure up positive thoughts of family wellness, but emotionally fit parents can strengthen family relationships even during the legal process and later as a divorced family. Typically, parents are so trapped in their own emotional chaos, not to mention the arduous divorce procedure, that they involve their children in the
