Dealing with a divorce is a big deal for all adults. For those who have children counting on them, the difficulties might be more pronounced. There are several things that you have to remember if you are trying to raise your children while dealing with the changes that divorce brings.
Even though you might want to coddle your children after the divorce, you shouldn’t do this. Instead, you need to take the role of the stable parent in these cases. Your children do need to have the consistency that comes with a stable parent.
It might be tempting to treat your children like they are your friends. While it is possible that this is the case, you still must remember that you are the parent. You must be sure that you are being responsible and not doing things just to try to be the “best” parent in your child’s eyes.
This brings up another point — you and your ex shouldn’t try to one-up each other. Parenting isn’t a competition. Instead, it is a situation where you and your ex each need to make good memories with your children.
You need to take the time to work on yourself. You shouldn’t become so focused on raising your children that you forget that you are a person. If the children’s other parent is still in the picture, you can use the time when your children are at that home to do things for yourself.
As you venture through the new way of life, you might find that there are some situations that demand your attention. If any of these have to do with child custody, review the custody order to determine what options you might have for the situation.
Source: The Huffington Post, “5 Tips For Parenting After A Divorce,” Candidly Kim, accessed Nov. 30, 2017