Back to School

It's that time of year with the smell of crayons and new text books, but with all the excitement, emotions are also running high with little ones anticipating a new teacher, or teens dealing with normal high school pressures. Just as in other milestones of childhood and youth, our children need both parents to guide them through these times. It can be a difficult time for children and parents alike when a divorce has occured. There is no doubt that most parents want to be there to celebrate, watch in anticipation of seeing their child embark on another year of their education, but that is not always the case. It can be a heartbreaking time for those parents who have been torn from their children's lives due to Parental Alienation - we all want those precious memories and they should not be denied.

Granted there are certainly instances when supervision or a change in custody is merited as when there has been documented and substantiated abuse, but no parent should use PAS to tear down another parent and shut the other parent from their child's life. Our children need both parents, a mother and a father, to grow emotionally, and while there are certainly instances such as abuse when a child should be shielded from a parent engaging in destructive behaviors, parents should never deny a relationship based on their relationship with their former spouse. True, we may not like what our former spouse has done in a marriage and/or divorce, but that is between the two of you, and the children are not pawns in some sort of board game called the "Family Court."

With the school year beginning, please consider the face of your child and their anticipation of a new experience. You created this precious child with your former spouse, and this child deserves a relationship with both of you. Please think long and hard before you consider tearing the other parent down, or using the courts to remove a child from the other parent. You may feel that you've "won," but your child will have lost.

Take care, and blessings for a wonderful school year

Julie