Back when I was just a kid, things were so simple. There was eating junk food, playing, watching TV and sleeping. Those were the days, and that was my life. I assume it's the life of most people before they enter school. Then something happened that happens to most American families. Or at least it seems like most of them. My parents got a divorce. Naturally it was my dad, who initiated the process by sleeping with some other woman around mid-life crisis time. A woman that was 11 years younger than he and my mother. Wow, is that ever cliche! I often wonder if my father considered the effects of divorce on us kids. There were four of us, and I was only 5 at the time. I must say that it certainly changed things.
You could probably ask most children in America, and they would tell you that their parents are no longer together. I'm not sure what this says about our morals of level of devotion. We take an oath to love, cherish and protect someone forever, and then we say "never mind, I see something else that looks better." It's an absurd cycle in this country. I don't know a single person, whose folks are still together. In all honesty, I don't think couples ponder the effects of divorce on their kids. At least not in the beginning. They just move on with their lives. The kids are merely collateral damage or casualties along the way. Heck, some parents even ditch the children completely, and go off to start a new family. It never ceases to amaze me how low folks will go to start over in life.
There's no doubt that children must be considered in a divorce process. Any fool should know that the effects of divorce on children would be great. Suddenly their house-hold is split in half. The family life they were accustomed to, is obliterated in a sense. Now they're looking at two different homes with two different parents setting different rules. It can be a great deal to take in and process; especially if they're very young. When it comes down to it, no child wants to deal with the effects of divorce, and we all hope that our parents will never split, even after we've moved out. The imperative part is talking to your children and reassuring them that everything will be fine. Communication is key.
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