Need a Good Book on Explaining Divorce to Two Young Girls

Hi K.,
I am a therapist and work quite a bit with kids and families in this situation. One of the best books for parents is Helping Your Children Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way by M. Gary Neumann. It is really excellent and breaks down how to talk to kids about it by age and developmental level, even gives samples of what to say...it also takes parents thru all the stages of the divorce process etc... For kids, there is a book called Divorce is not the end of the world, it is written by two kids and their mom. Best of luck to the family.

Hi K.,

I am so sorry to hear about your friend. My advice would be to speak with your pastor and get a recommendation from them. I have used my pastor in the past and have found this a great comfort. Please take good care of your friend.

A friend in Plainfield,
S.

I agree with Michelle, and came on to say just that - you may want to wait a bit before buying books for her. Maybe you could offer to sit with her kids so she can run errands, or make some dinners that she can pop in the oven when she doesn't feel like cooking. I think that kind of support would be appreciated and more well received. But, then again this is strictly my opinion. Best of luck to you and your friend.

I can offer some support. Our church has a group on Thursday evevnings for "divorce care" and they also have "divorce care for kids". Maybe that would help. It is free and can really help. The curch is in Naperville on Rt. 59. You may have seen it. It's Calvary Church , the really big one on the corner of Montgomery Rd and Rt. 59. That phone number is ###-###-####. It's from 7pm -9pm. They also have day care for the younger ones. I wish you well!

K.

I am totally flying by the seat of my pants here BUT maybe offering books on divorce might be too much for her to handle right now. It seems to me that its moving very fast for her and maybe she isn't ready to accept the term "divorce" as fact yet. You could research titles for her but I would be cautious to give these books just yet.

This is a bit off topic, but a good book for your friend would be "Love Must Be Tough". It's by James Dobson. It helps women not make mistakes that will drive their husbands furthur away during this time. It may help for you to get two copies and read it also, so you can be on the same page and encourage her to respond apropriatly.

Also, I know the man who leads divorce care at Calvary. He is a good man. It may be a good thing for your friend. Perhaps you could watch her kids for her, although they may have childcare.