Parental Filter

Yes, of course, my parents got separated when I was seven years old, and although it hurt me a lot and took a while for me to adjust living with only one parent, it did not affect me as a whole in the long run.

I was lucky enough to have very understanding parents who worked together to make the transition easy for both my brother and I. We were always free to visit the other parent anytime we wanted, and both parents really made an effort to see both kids everyday, either in school or at home.

Of course they can, if the parents remain civil and work together to ensure that the children still have two loving and involved parents. My father became ill when I was 6 and he died when I was still a child. Childhood wasn't always easy but I grew into a happy and responsible adult. I thought my friends with divorced parents were lucky because they still had two parents.

justontime, that is a useful reminder, divorce does not involve losing a parent and if parents put the needs of the children first they can have a happy life with both parents actively involved.

I know several wonderful kids whose parents divorced or never married. In each case, the parents are amicably separated and care about their child more than any hurt feelings. Loving, consistent discipline from both parents works wonders.

Thank you, that was very well put and a useful reminder to all of us as parents that whatever issues we may have we must put our children first when it comes to parenting.

Here Today, thanks for those encouraging words, it is nice to know that things can work out well. We rarely hear the success stories, just the failures.

If only more people would realize this, there'd be much less of a problem with this issue, yes. It works much better than shuffling the kids around every weekend without any consistency whatsoever.

One of the kids I was talking about is my son's best friend. His parents split up when he was quite young. He lived full time with his dad when he and my son met, but after a couple of years he went to live with his mom during the school season and spent summers with his dad. He used to spend alot of time with us when his dad was working.
During the school year we got to her about what a "b" his wife was, but during the summer, when his son was with him, you never heard anything but good about his mom come from his dad.
The son, which we sort of consider our second son, is now a Botanist and is happily married.

We should also keep in mind that a lot of children whose parents live under the same roof do not have good examples of cooperation and harmony. We all need to make an effort to ensure that our behaviour puts the needs of the children first.

That is a very good point, just having two parents under one roof is no guarantee of producing happy well rounded children.