by Kate Frewerd

Created on: April 09, 2010   Last Updated: April 11, 2010

Every time Chris comes home from his father’s house he is crabby and has an attitude. Is this his way of expressing anger he holds from the divorce? If you are a newly divorced parent you may already see your child’s attitude changing. A negative attitude from your child after a divorce is to be expected, but if this continues you may want to look at your relationship with your ex-spouse.  How you interact with your ex-spouse will continue to affect your children. A child has an adjustment period after a divorce where they need to get used to their new life. If you want to be a successful divorced parent you need to work with your ex-spouse to come up with a solid parenting plan. Now of course, this is assuming that the other parent is still involved with your children; also, assuming that you are both able to act in the best interest of your children without allowing your negative emotions for one another to effect your parenting goals. Here are some tips to help you on your way to becoming a successful divorced parent.

If you are in the first stages of your divorce how you approach your children about the subject is key in how the process will affect them. Yes, they are going to be upset, and, yes, it’s going to hurt everyone to sit down and go through this, but regardless of the fact that you are separating with their other parent you are still a family, just in a different way. Don’t avoid talking to your children and do not just assume they will adjust on their own. While children are resilient they still need guidance especially when it comes to their emotions surrounding a divorce. Making sure that they understand your reasons, using discretion about what you say to them, and letting them know what is going to happen will help to ease some of their fears about divorce. Reassure them that you both love them and that, while there will be changes, they won’t be bad changes they will be good changes for everyone involved. Let them know that it will be strange not living with both parents at the same time, but that you are both there for them whenever they need you, or are sad; because they will be sad and miss the other parent a lot at first, you will have many times where your child, out of the blue, starts crying because of this. Reassure them that when this happens they can call the other parent and you will be there for them.

If you can, before you separate come up with the parenting plan that works best for your

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