Parenting
fromPsychology Today
3 days agoHow to Talk to Kids About the Bad Stuff
Direct, honest communication with children about difficult events reduces fear and anxiety while building trust and understanding.
Your partner should be the one to address this with his children, not you. He should be direct and honest. Encourage him to acknowledge their mother's discomfort with the situation and to ask them to be respectful both of her feelings and your relationship. He should express empathy for them being placed in an uncomfortable situation and allow them to speak freely about their feelings.
Even if a child seems relatively happy, that can lead any parent to be concerned that there is a problem - or else why would they be evasive? On the other hand, our teen patients tell us about how they try to avoid long car rides with their parents because it is inevitably seen by the parent as an opportunity to ask a lot of questions.