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Telling a young child about divorce

debbie7730
debbie7730
Does anyone have any experience with telling a young child about divorce? We have a six-year-old and I am not sure how to put things in ways that she will understand.
refurb
refurb
i was 51 when my wife tried to put it in ways that i'd understand,

i'm sad for your child, i'm sad for your family

don't give your child the bs about "being happy"
Juneday
Juneday
This is really hard to answer as most of us here dont understand what is going on. Be short and honest. We started with just saying that their dad as moving down to the spare bedroom and took each step by step until he moved out. My kids still see their dad every night until I get home. So I think that has helped ease this transition a bit better. Good luck maybe someone else can chime in on how they did this.

Good Luck
larry5577
larry5577
Your local library will have several books to choose from to read with your child. Go through several of them and see which suits you the most. I'm quite sure you'll find something there.
patti22
patti22
Straightforward, honest.

Be prepared with an answer to the most important thing.....where will she live. Even if you only know the answer to that question for the next few weeks/months (remember to a 6 year old, a month is like forever....)

Don't make promises that you can't make (you'll always be able to live here and see your friends). Do make it okay for her to see the positive and negative to it all. Let her know that feelings are okay (yours and hers) but that it's not okay to express them in certain ways (physically hurting other people) and so on. Let her know that there may be times when she'll love you, hate you, and just be annoyed......and sometimes that will all be in the first 5 minutes she's home....

Stinks to put kids through divorce, but kids go through it every day. And most come out of it more mature and empathetic.

And as always, homework must be done, chores completed, and mom loves you......