Divorcing when children are involved is a decision that requires wisdom and awareness to ensure the happiness and well-being of the children. It’s also important to make this decision consciously and with the best interests of everyone involved in mind, even if the marriage doesn’t work out. Regardless of the reasons for the divorce, it ultimately represents a loss. It’s crucial to take steps to maintain a positive relationship with your children after the divorce.
Here are some behaviors that make you an ideal dad after a divorce.
- Maintain a good relationship with your ex-wife. The lack of success in marriage does not mean that after the divorce, dealing with their mother with revenge, defiance, or hatred.
- Do not deal with your children from within your negative feelings towards your ex-wife. Do not punish your ex-wife by using your children as a weapon. They should not bear the consequences of your decisions.
- Do not harm your children with their mother by talking about her nasty words. Make sure to show her respect in front of them; although she is no longer your wife, she will always be the mother of your children.
- Do not share your marital problems with your children. Do not seek advice from your children, maintain your role and authority as a father, do not show yourself as weakened or defeated in front of them, and explain to them that divorce does not mean the end of the family.
- Enhance your children’s sense of security in your relationship with them. The bond between a father and his children is everlasting. Nothing can replace the father in a child’s life. Show your support, love, and care for their well-being, individualities, and future.
- Participate with them in their daily events. Maintain regular contact, follow up on their studies, and exchange special events with them.
- Be aware of their successes and failures. Being there for your children during both their happiest and most challenging times makes them feel that you are a constant source of support and security in their lives – a refuge they can always rely on.
- Make regular time to be with them. Spend quality time with your children by taking them to movies, having dinners together, watching TV, and engaging in meaningful conversations.
- Do not financially support only. Don’t just be a source of money, be present in their lives as a father. Understand that your duties include providing love, care, guidance, discipline, and advice when needed.
- Be a role model for your children. Children involuntarily notice and are influenced by their father’s personality because he is the first and closest man in their lives. Therefore, fathers need to set a good example and support their children in becoming successful and righteous individuals in the future.
- Present your past experiences to your children. Feel free to present your past experiences and experiences to your children, including their successes, failures, or feelings, because they learn through you what their personalities, ideas, and convictions are.
- Be a good listener. Ensure that you listen to them without passing judgment on their behavior or stifling their dreams. Let them feel secure in confiding their secrets in you.
- Show love and concern for your children in deeds and words. You are most certainly making numerous sacrifices for your children. Express this with compassionate words and actions, without relying on their awareness to understand their importance to you.
- Praise your children and encourage them to succeed. Always praise your children for everything they do well and their success because kids are always waiting for parents to be satisfied with them to feel good about themselves and safe in their relationship with you.
- Do not ignore or belittle your children’s feelings. Respect your children’s emotions, such as sadness or fear, and do not underestimate them, even if they are simple, they are their true feelings. Allow yourself to be a trusted father.
- Respect your children; do not bully them. Respect your children’s wishes, dreams, and ambitions. Avoid trying to control their most crucial forms of communication and humanitarian success. They are not an extension of you, and their abilities or personalities must be respected and accepted as wisdom that is learned from you forever.
Remember this: Being a dad to your children involves more than just providing financial support, giving advice, offering criticism, or giving guidance. Words alone are not enough unless they are followed by meaningful actions that lead your children toward a happy life. It is about your presence in their lives.