Divorce may be scary now, but with some effort on the parts of both parents, co-parenting can be successful. Indeed, children are adaptable, and with careful planning, everyone’s postdivorce life can be happy and healthy.
Keeping some consistency
Divorce can throw a wrench in the lives of our children, especially if selling the family home means moving out of their school district and away from their lives. In addition, going from one family home to two can have its own issues. As such, the parents should discuss if it is possible to keep the kids in their old neighborhood or at least in their same school district.
This is not always possible, but if the parents work together, it may be. For example, one currently popular option is to keep the family home. The child will stay there, and the parents will move in and out when it is their time. Then they can maintain much smaller separate properties, or even share an apartment when it is not their time in the home.
Creating two “homes”
If that is not possible, both parents will need to work together to make sure the child does not feel homeless. This can be done by having an open and honest discussion about what is going on, and then, making the children part of creating these new homes.
This means allowing them to help with finding a new home or apartment. Take them to the furniture store. Allow them to help decorate the home, and be sure to give them their own space. Even if all the children cannot have their own rooms, even just giving each child their own closet or corner can make the new place feel like home.
In addition, if there are items that made the former family home feel like a family home, split up those items into both new Georgia homes.
Routines and consistency
Once the Savannah, Georgia, custody and parenting plans have been crafted, stick to them. The goal for both parents should be to build routines and consistency for the children to make the transition as normalized as possible. Anxiety is easily created during these times, but it can be lessened or eliminated by simply keeping their schedule and routines consistent.
Positive communication
Both parents should communicate with each other, not through their children, and all communication about the other spouse should be positive. Disagreements should be conducted in private, but no negativity should be shown to the child. Remember, the goal is their happiness, and they need both Savannah, Georgia, parents.
