Divorce. It is something that couples never want to think about but it happens to more people than you might expect, with the average global divorce rate being as high as 4.7 for every 1,000 people. 

If you find yourself planning on getting divorced as a parent, one challenge can be figuring out how to tell a child about divorce. 

What is the first thing that you should do? What should you avoid? This is your guide to making that part of the divorce process smoother. 

Plan Answers Ahead

One of the most important things about this part of the process is to plan answers for questions your children might have ahead of time. This includes having a reason for why the divorce is happening, who the children are going to live with, and when this is all taking place. 

At this stage, it is important to be clear and concise with your children while presenting a united front. Family mediation may help you settle these questions ahead of time, which you can find out more about at mediateuk.co.uk. 

Do This Together

When having a talk with your children about this, you will want to do it with your spouse and be in agreement on answers for questions that your children might have. Also, you are going to want to have this conversation with all of your children at once if you have more than one child. 

It might be tempting to separate older and younger children for this because the former will most likely have a better understanding of what exactly is happening. However, you should try to avoid this that way none of your children feel left out and so that the conversation is more clear and straightforward. 

Settle Important Decisions 

Divorce is naturally going to affect a child’s life and in some ways, change it. However, your child’s well-being should come first and you should try to have as little change to their lives as possible from this. 

With that in mind, some parents may be tempted to leave decisions about their lives up to older kids such as which parent they want to live with and where they go to school. However, even if you have tension with your spouse and your child is on the older side, you should avoid having your children make any long-term and important decisions that will directly affect them. 

In most cases, they will be too young to understand the severity of it and as a parent, you have to keep yourself in the right mind through this process to still make those important decisions that are best for your children. 

No Blaming 

Finally, this adds to the united front point above in that no spouse should be blaming the other in front of their children for why the divorce is happening. Of course, this may be obvious, but it is important to note that children should never feel like they are the ones at fault for why your divorce is happening. 

Try to make it clear that it is nobody’s fault and that it is a decision that is being made in everybody’s best interests. 

Learn More About How to Tell a Child About Divorce

There is no easy way for how to tell a child about divorce but if you stick to the points above, you should have a much easier time going about it. 

Do you want more parenting advice during the divorce stages? Check out our Family Life articles.