Problem: Your children were used to having a home with two parents present. Now they have one parent at a time. Children often miss being around multiple adults who care about them.
Solution: Enlist friends and family to provide a greater sense of community in your home.
1. Consider inviting your children’s grandparents, uncles or aunts over for a regular ‘family night’. After her divorce, Tracy started a new family night: every other Sunday, her sisters’ family came over. Her children, Jason, Ryan and Annie, enjoyed telling their aunt and uncle about their week. After dinner, everyone played a game of cards. It reminded Jason, Ryan and Annie that they were part of a larger, caring family.
2. Sarah’s parents lived far away but they started emailing Sarah’s two sons regularly. They’d forward funny videos, ask how school was going, and stay in touch with the boys’ lives. Grandparents and grandchildren became much closer as a result.
3. Dan started a once a month game night with two other families. Everyone would get together at his house for pizza and then play darts or a card game or watch sports together. Dan’s two sons traded off which picking the activity for game night. One of Dan’s sons commented, “Our family is so much bigger now.”
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