Marriage, Divorce, and Kids

Are men to blame for the divorce problem in this country?

It's been said that one of the reasons for the high rate of divorce in this country is the manner in which men choose their wives. Specifically, they choose their wives in a fashion similar to how they choose their next car.

They get the best-looking one available, and hope there'snot much maintenance down the road.

While this may occasionally be true, there are alsopractices that married couples need to follow toavoid adding to a divorce rate hovering around 50%. These practices are important for the success of your marriage, and they're also essential for the well-being of your children.

In Maggie Gallagher's book, "The Abolition of Marriage," she states that, "Half of all children will witness the breakup of a parent's marriage. Of these, close to half will also see the breakup of a parent's second marriage."

Can we possibly continue with a system in whichhalf of our children witness the breakup oftheir parent's marriage? Is a divorce rate near50% enough to have us consider new ideas about howwe decide about marriage and divorce?

One idea we might consider is educating young peopleabout the qualities of a successful marriage. The best way to do this is to model these qualities for your children. In addition, we cantalk to them about the specific qualities and actions which make a marriage successful.

Here are some of those qualities:

1. Commitment-According to one definition,"Commitment is a freely chosen inner resolve tofollow through with a course even thoughdifficulty arises. How do we show our childrenwhat to do when difficulty arises? Do we move towhere the grass is greener? Commitment is a dailydiscipline. It's the chat after dinner, and the kiss before work. It's the core from which we respond to difficulty. It's what makes our lives richer and deeper.

2. Emotional Awareness-If we know what's reallybothering us, we can have effective and meaningfulconversations with our spouse. We can be genuine,honest, and open with each other. And we candiscover that much of the pain we feel in ourrelationship is actually our past emotionalhistory coming back to haunt us.

If you're planning on getting married someday, youneed to be aware of what your emotional issues are. Ifyou're not aware of them, you're a great candidate to add to a divorce rate that's already staggering.

3. Be Kind, Not Right-We tend to have a tremendousstake in showing our loved ones that we're right. An enormous amount of time is wasted in our relationships by arguing over who's right or wrong. This excessive arguing is just an indication of our low self-esteem. A much easier and more effective way to be in a relationship is to commit to kindness. When you're kind, you don't need to be right. And it's so much easier for others to be with you!

There certainly are divorces that are respectful of children, and many may be "justifiable." But the number of divorces thatdamage children's lives' is mind-blowing. And the trail behind them is strewn with actions and decisions that reek of childishself-interest.

It's time for couples to grow up. It's time to stop looking to "get your needs met" in your relationship, and to start looking to meet the needs of your family. It's time to stop running away when thingsget difficult, and to start persevering through the pain.

And most importantly, it's time to see the real impact of divorce onchildren.

Because the cost of not doing these things is beyond measure.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches busy parents byphone to balance their life and improve their familyrelationships. For a FREE twenty minute sample session by phone; ebooks, courses, articles, and a FREE newsletter, go to http://www.markbrandenburg.com or email him at mark@markbrandenburg.com.