When going through a divorce, explaining it to your child is often one of the biggest hurdles you will face. After all, you understand this news will hurt your child and you want to do everything possible to minimize that damage.
Will cooperation do that? Is working together with your co-parent what you need in order to ease your child’s way to acceptance?
Creating a foundation of support
According to Psychology Today, cooperation can aid in your child’s ability to accept and understand the upcoming divorce. Experts speculate that there are many reasons for this. Among them is the fact that your child is looking for safety and stability when the foundation of their world ends up rocked to such a great extent. One of the best ways to provide this is by letting your child know that some things will not change. Your love and care for them, for example. Seeing you and your co-parent work together to provide this can set them at ease.
Presenting the situation coherently
In addition, working together with a co-parent allows you to provide a more coherent and organized presentation of the situation at hand. You do not have to worry about giving conflicting information or arguing in front of your child, which often ends disastrously. Instead, you can work together. Prepare your conversations in advance. Decide what questions you will discuss and what you will leave unanswered. Figure out a good way to get out of answering said questions.
The smoother the conversation goes, the easier it is for your child. The more they feel like they can trust and rely on you both as parents, the easier the acceptance may come.