With nearly half of all marriages ending in divorce, here are some tips that may help you cope in this difficult time::
1) Don’t talk negatively about the other parent in front of the child. Your adult perceptions, thoughts and emotions aren’t appropriate around your child. Your child loves you both just as both of you love him. .
2) It’s not a competition. There is enough love to go around. Don’t make things worse by proposing that one side of the family loves the child more than the other. His self esteem and self worth are fragile during this time, in particular, and should be preserved.
3) Your feelings about the other’s family should be kept to yourself. The animosity between the two families is most likely due to the failed marriage and emotions are running high. That does not mean that the grandparents,siblings, aunts and uncles should suffer because they hurt your feelings during the marriage or divorce process.The love and happiness of the child is all that should matter. Family is important and key for a child to develop his or her identity.
4) What you do with your child may be different than what your ex does with your child, if it isn’t hamful to your child, let it go. Your ex doing things that you don’t with your child, might be hard to accept at first, but if it isn’t bad for them, be accepting of the differences.
5) You have some negative things in your past, we all do. There are lapses of judgement and mistakes that you have made, the same can be said of the other parent. Unless you want to be constantly reminded of these things, don’t do that to your ex. .
6) Understand that the other parent also wants what is in the best interest of the child. Just as a child needs their mother in their life, they also need their father. Both parents are capable of providing a loving home for him or her. How lucky this child is to have two parents working hard to spend as much time with him as possible and to share him with their side of the family. Regardless of which side you are talking about,on his mother’s side and on his father’s side, they are still his family.
7) Time heals all wounds and this will get easier if all concerned let that happen.