Divorce is hard on both parents and kids. All parties struggle with unmet expectations, feelings of disappointment or abandonment, anger, and mistrust. Some of those feelings can be magnified in kids when divorced parents start dating.
Writer Amy Wang addressed this issue on the website of The Oregonian:
What’s the best way for a recently divorced or separated parent to juggle kids and a new relationship? We asked Angie Blackwell, a certified Stepfamily Foundation coach in McMinnville, for her advice.
While you should be open and honest with your kids about your dating, it’s not necessary to involve the children in your dating life, Blackwell said. For instance, kids shouldn’t even meet first or second dates.
“You don’t really want the kids bonding with someone new unless you know that person’s going to be around for a while,” Blackwell said. It’s fine to talk about people you’ve met, but she advises against bringing them home right away.
Once a relationship does take off, Blackwell advises that parents continue to keep partner and kids separate for a while. “It’s a matter of slowly adding together your new interest and your children,” she said.
Labels: parenting tips, divorce, dating
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