Sitting together and reading books to help children with divorce can be an incredibly helpful tool for both your kids as well as yourself. It can be hard to put your feelings into words and tackle emotionally charged topics in a way that’s easy for children to understand. Sometimes as adults, we ourselves are struggling to understand the divorce and its implications; having another resource to help explain the situation can alleviate this challenge.
I recently purchased two books: The Invisible String by Patrice Karst, and The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. Neither of these books is addressing the topic of divorce directly, but they address the issue of separation from a parent. While there may be many questions about why you got divorced and if you’ll get back together, often children are most focused on the impact they feel directly which is the separation the divorce has caused them from each parent. Addressing this with your children can be hugely helpful for them, and for you, as you are all experiencing the pain of times apart.
In The Invisible String, a mother comforts children scared during the night by reassuring them that even when they are not physically together, they are still connected by love through this invisible string. Similarly, the message of The Kissing Hand is that even when apart, a mother will feel the child’s love and the child will feel the mother’s love through remembering a tender kiss on the hand. Both stories present different scenarios in which the child(ren) are apart from the parent and in every scenario, they are still connected. These stories are so beautiful, I found them reassuring for me.
More important than any story you may read to your child(ren) is the time you spend together doing so. I struggled with my 1:3 ratio and decided to read with each child individually at night, even if it was for 10 minutes. This allowed one-on-one time that they needed, and that I needed. A simple 10 minute snuggle in bed reading with focused attention made a huge difference and was essential for my children to feel seen and loved. And it allowed me to feel I had connected individually with each child each day I was with them. I highly recommend you check out these books to help children with divorce and give this experience a try!
The views expressed in this article are those of the author, an independent professional or contributor, and do not necessarily reflect the views of DivorceSquad.com.
Suzanne Thelen founded Divorce Squad following her own divorce which was both overwhelming and difficult to manage while working full time and being the mother of her then 7 year old daughter, 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter. Suzanne’s goal in creating Divorce Squad is to connect individuals to a professional network whose expertise can enable better decisions.
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