Family Forum / Parenting / Single Parents / May 2004

Very gently and with a lot of patience and love.

lm

 > young children whose parents are getting a divorce.
 >
 > How do you handle when children come back from your ex's house and they
 > are more rude and tempered than usual?

 Treat them like you normally would with that sort of behavior, and don't
blame it on the other parent.

 >
 > Kim
 > mother of two beautiful children
 > Tyler (5/01) & Serena (12/02)
 >

Any time children travel they return unruly because they have been out of
routine.  The fact that the return is from your ex really doesn't have
anything to do with it.   All that divorce has done is create the situation
where they will be away on their own (without you).  It doesn't create the
behaviour.  My son has a friend on the next street.  He will spend an
afternoon there and come home behaving like a turd.  Consider the cause as
the away time, not as time with your ex.

Lisa

I just continued my rules as normal. They will slip back into routine. That is
why routines are important to young ones.
V