Each year an estimated 240,000 children in the UK experience the separation of their parents. Overall, more than one in three children will see their parents split up before they reach their 16th birthday.
As lawyers, it is our job is to help you through the legal process as best we can. However, we realise that many of our clients will be unsure as to how to best manage their separation in the best interests of their children. Many have crucial needs that may not be about legal issues. You may feel you don’t have the information you need to support your children when making incredibly important decisions about their future during your separation.
You probably know that you will need to find ways to address key issues such as understanding how to talk to children, supporting children’s feelings while managing your own, minimising conflict between households or developing workable parenting arrangements. We believe that having access early on in the process to good information and resources is a key factor in how well you and your children will be able to manage this transition.
Separation and Divorce - Helping parents to help children
Sample pages - Separation and Divorce: Helping parents to help children (.pdf - 304kb)
This booklet has been written by renowned parenting expert Christina McGhee, on behalf of Resolution. If you are the client of a Resolution member, ask them for a fully illustrated colour copy of the booklet. Alternatively you can print a word only version here.
Separation and Divorce: Helping parents to help children word only (.pdf - 215kb)
This booklet is designed to give you key information at the earliest possible stage and to guide you in making a positive difference for your children. It supports a child-centred approach - which research and experience suggests will help children to move from being a family under one roof to being a family in two separate homes.
The enclosed material covers a range of topics about the separation process as well as information about how children are affected and can be helped. We know that everything included may not be a part of your experience but we hope that you will find pieces that are personally helpful and useful.
Given that you will always be the only Mum and Dad your children ever have, the choices you make at this time will mean everything to your children. We hope that this guide will offer you a means to move forward in the best possible way.
My Time chart
As part of its Parenting After Parting initiative, Resolution has produced the My Time chart as a joint venture with designer Victoria Ballard.
The A2-sized chart is aimed at children aged four to nine and is based around a two-week-to-view calendar. It comes with two different coloured dry-wipe pens so that children can see at a glance which parent they are seeing on a particular day. It includes space for writing reminders of things to tell or take to their other parent’s house and special dates to remember.
The My Time chart costs £9.50 + £3.95 p&p and is available from http://www.encourageandpraise.com/.
