Getting divorced is especially difficult when you have young children in the family. While child custody will be decided in court or through mediation, there’s still the challenge of explaining the situation to your children. This is a time-sensitive conversation, as the family dynamic will change rather abruptly. Here are a few ways you can make this transition easier for your kids.

How Can You Explain Child Custody to Your Kids?

Telling your children about the divorce and how child custody will affect them is going to require an uninterrupted conversation. You should expect serious emotional fallout and plenty of questions. For this reason, be sure to plan ahead. You can start by talking with your spouse about the best place, date, and time to have the conversation. It will go better if you and your spouse can participate together and conduct the conversation somewhere with few distractions.

Use simple language that your kids can understand. It will also be necessary to repeatedly explain that you and your spouse will still love and care for them, so they won’t feel as though they’re losing one parent. Explain to them that their time will simply be divided between each parent, since you and your spouse will be living in separate residences.

How Can You Help Your Kids Cope With the New Family Dynamic? 

You shouldn’t expect your children to accept the new situation easily. As your divorce lawyer helps you establish a custody schedule, either through mediation or a formal divorce hearing, let your kids know about the schedule. Creating copies of the schedule for each one of your kids will help them feel more involved. If they can keep track of their time with each parent, it will be easier for them to get acclimated to their new routine. Your children will still have questions about the divorce, so take the time to answer them honestly and thoroughly. The better they understand the situation, the better they’ll adjust to it.

This is also a time to be more wary of what you say in front of your children. Speaking badly of your spouse, or blaming them for the end of the marriage, can have a long-lasting negative impact on your children. It’s better to present a united front in your kids’ presence. You can always join an adult’s support group to vent your true feelings when you feel the need to blow off steam.

When you’re facing the end of your marriage, there are many practical issues to resolve in addition to helping your children cope with the changes. The experienced attorneys at Bates Law Firm PLLC in Wadesboro, NC, can help you seek the division of assets, child custody, and support that’s important to you. They provide personal, dedicated legal services to clients throughout Anson, Richmond, Stanly, and Union Counties. To schedule a consultation, you can visit their website or call (704) 694-0195.