10. Show your child that you are taking steps to grow stronger.
Your well-being means a lot to your child. A child needs to see that Mom and Dad are growing healthier, feeling less hurt, and growing more cooperative.
Family disintegration can be terrifying for children. They can have many of the same fears we do (“Will we have enough money?” “Will we all be safe?” “Will I be strong enough?”). But they can have many more, often ones that would surprise parents (“Since my parents left each other, will they leave me?” “Will people want to know me?” “Am I to blame?”).
A lot needs to be done to reassure a child, and taking care of yourself is one of the best ways to give that reassurance. For some ideas, see Some Obvious—and Some Surprising—Things to Do Instead of Battling.
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”;
—C. S. Lewis