Jason Mesnick notes that statistics show that fully half of all marriages end in divorce. Often, children are unwittingly involved. While everyone has a different experience when it comes to divorce or single parenting, he does have a few tips for those who are facing it for the first time:

• Put the kids first. The best thing any parent can do is to leave the kids out of the problems that are in the marriage or that you have with their other parent. Give them as normal and happy a life as possible.
• Find a supportive community. There's a lot of anger and pain in the early phases of a divorce, and finding a community where others are going through the same thing can help defuse a lot of bad feelings.
• Plan ahead. If you think divorce may be in the offing, start looking for support, both legal and emotional, before the divorce happens. The better prepared you are, the easier it can be for everyone.

Go back to main article.