Tell Mommy: How Did You Tell Your Kids About Divorce?

October 16, 2008

Madonna and Guy Ritchie's split is all over the Internet, tabloids and television. While I'm sure it's hard on the material girl, I assume it's far more taxing on her tots — Lourdes, Rocco and David. My parents are married, but many of my friends whose parents have split still talk about the time they found out that their mom and dad's union was ending.

As divorce affects so many families, this is an issue people continue to encounter. How did you tell your children you were getting divorced? Or how did your parents break the news to you?
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Rinne 4 years 31 weeks

My sister, Fae, got divorced eleven years and four kids after getting married, which was a year ago, so we sat our kids down (then 3, 3, and 17 months) and explained that Uncle Laird wouldn't be coming over anymore. They were upset, but we happy to know that Gwendolyn, Bronwyn, Eowyn, and Ceridwyn are going to live with Auntie Fae so they'd still see them.I don't know about other situations, but in this case Laird happened to be gay, and Fae insisted on the kids full time.

Rinne 4 years 31 weeks

My sister, Fae, got divorced eleven years and four kids after getting married, which was a year ago, so we sat our kids down (then 3, 3, and 17 months) and explained that Uncle Laird wouldn't be coming over anymore. They were upset, but we happy to know that Gwendolyn, Bronwyn, Eowyn, and Ceridwyn are going to live with Auntie Fae so they'd still see them. I don't know about other situations, but in this case Laird happened to be gay, and Fae insisted on the kids full time.

macgirl 4 years 31 weeks

My son was only 3 so he didn't really get it. We sat him down and turned off his cartoons. We told him that mommy and daddy couldn't get along and we would be moving to different houses. He said "OK, can I watch cartoons now". He adjusted just fine, but I think it had to do with his age. I imagine it would be much harder on older kids.

jessie 4 years 31 weeks

my sis and i were 7......they really didn't tell us much...next thing we knew mom and dad were living apart...we were living with mom...visiting dad on weekends....and dad coming over for midnite visits...:oy:...

MotoLinz 4 years 31 weeks

My brother and I were 13 and 15, respectively, when my parents split. They never really fought openly, but it was no surprise to us. They just kind of grew apart, really. They said, "Hey, you guys - we are going to be getting a divorce." My dad moved out, and we continued to live with our mom, but we saw our dad at least a few times a week, and we all still spent holidays together. It was an adjustment, for sure, but everyone was a lot happier.Ten years later, my parents, still divorced, are great friends, talk a few times a week, and still do holidays together. Heh. :)If it ever comes to that in my relationship, I hope we can handle it as well as my parents did - no sniping, no custody battle, no hard feelings.

MotoLinz 4 years 31 weeks

My brother and I were 13 and 15, respectively, when my parents split. They never really fought openly, but it was no surprise to us. They just kind of grew apart, really. They said, "Hey, you guys - we are going to be getting a divorce." My dad moved out, and we continued to live with our mom, but we saw our dad at least a few times a week, and we all still spent holidays together. It was an adjustment, for sure, but everyone was a lot happier. Ten years later, my parents, still divorced, are great friends, talk a few times a week, and still do holidays together. Heh. :) If it ever comes to that in my relationship, I hope we can handle it as well as my parents did - no sniping, no custody battle, no hard feelings.

BlairBear 4 years 31 weeks

My kids were 3 and 6 months when their father and I split up. They were still too young to understand what divorce really was, so I told them that Daddy wasn't going to live with us anymore. My daughter was a little upset about it and still is to this day but it's a longer story than I have to write here.

tiasmommy 4 years 31 weeks

I was 16, my sister was 18, my parents sat us down and my father said he was leaving. My mother had no idea. She was as shocked as we were. There were divorced 2 years later. Many years of therapy later I have gotten over most of the issues I deal with them, however it never goes away and now that I have my own child it is still hard to deal with. My father is remarried but my daughter will not call her Grandma, she is my fathers wife, not her Grandma. That is my mothers job. I guess since I was older when they did divorce I never considered my fathers wife a "step-parent".

Greggie 4 years 31 weeks

My kids just know that Grandpa and Grandma J were married before he married Grandma L. They don't need to know specifics of their situation yet, but will as they get older.

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