Parties are often so engaged in the divorce or separation process that they fail to take notice of how the breaking apart of families can affect young, minor children. The truth of the matter is, frankly, that the minor children in a family where parents no longer reside in the same household can have difficulty bonding with a party with whom they spend less time. Parties who can work together and set aside their differences to further the best interests of their children can easily combat this by providing liberal parenting time with both parties.
Another thing that parents often fail to recognize are the specific ways in which a divorce can cause children to live “without” that which other families have. This is more than just an issue of money and luxuries. I recently read a blog article about two parents who got together each year to have a family photo session with their child, so that the child would have photographs with both parents growing up. This is something that I personally never thought about before. Growing up as a young child in a divorced house, this is something parents could work together on to ensure the minor child(ren) don’t “miss out” on these keepsakes. I found this article to be very interesting and it really gets the point across that there are things children of a divorce “miss out” on that parents often overlook. This is one of them.
Ideally, it is best for the parties to set aside their differences to try and work together for the benefit of their minor children and their best interests. As divorce attorneys, we often try to put this into perspective for our clients. They have many years of dealing with each other once the court case is over with, and we recognize that, and try to encourage our clients to act accordingly.