How to Talk to Your Kids About Divorce

Telling your children about a separation is the conversation most parents lose sleep over. A few principles help.

Tell them together if at all possible. Pick a moment with no time pressure. Use simple, age-appropriate language. Make clear that the divorce is not their fault, that both of you still love them, and what — concretely — will and won't change for them.

Expect the conversation to be the first of many. Children process big news in waves.