Turning A Broken Home Into A Blessing
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by: Sheila Butler
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Word Count: 568
Carrolton, GA – Millions of American moms and dads who couldn’t live with each other still live for their kids. The question facing divorcées is can they continue to guide their children to be successful – long after their marriage failed? Have they crippled their kid’s chance at a happy relationship, or a steady career?
Divorced mom Sheilia Butler, creator of the “2008 Kids In Motion Weekly Planner” (www.kidsinmotionplanner.com) says it’s time to focus on the positive aspects of a ‘broken home.’ “There’s no question a traditional household is a blessing, but a divorced home doesn’t mean your child is doomed.”
The divorce rate in America hovers around 50-percent. About 40-million American families are living apart today. Today’s co-parent isn’t just adjusting to their own new life; they’re terrified by the media and right-wing talk shows screaming through the speakers that their divorce has crippled their child’s chance for a normal future.
“The child from a divorced home knows how to communicate,” says Butler. “She\He has to ask mom for money for that field trip only dad knows about, she/he has to ask dad to pick her up from dance class on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, and she/he has to ask the teacher to address that science project note to step-mom.”
While a child from an intact family always knows what bus to take home, the kid who lives part-time with mom and part-time with dad has to be better organized. The child who is with dad every other Tuesday learns how to use a calendar, how to keep track of what books they need to bring to dad’s house to finish their homework. The divorced household child learns how to plan ahead for what supplies they need to take to which home to finish that science project on time.
Keeping her 9-year-old daughter’s gymnastics schedule, tennis practices, church activities and parent teacher conferences in order became a migraine in the making for Butler, a divorced mom of two. She crafted “Kids In Motion Planner” for her daughter to take with her to and from her ex-husbands house. The weekly planner enabled the ex-couple to keep track of events, ‘talk’ to each other, and let young Sydney have control over her new chaotic life. “The idea took off,” Butler says. Soon, divorced parents everywhere were clamoring for their child to have their own kid-inspired weekly planner.
And a divorce doesn’t necessarily mean the child will not be able to maintain long lasting loving relationships of their own. There’s an idea out there that if a child is the product of a broken home they’re more likely to bail on their own marriage. Butler says that’s just not the case. “Kids with divorced parents quickly learn to relate to new step-brothers and step-sisters. They develop skills to interact with the new friends on the block of their new part-time homes,” says Butler. “And let’s not forget, in today’s society, they’re more likely to fit in with their other friends who come from divorced homes.”
A split family is far from the ideal. But Butler insists it doesn’t mean you’ve wrecked your child’s life. “In some ways, the child from a divorced home may develop necessary success skills their buddies will not learn for years.”
About the Author
Sheila Butler is the founder and developer of the “Kids in Motion Planner”. She is a divorcee and mother of two, as well as a busy business owner and active community advocate. She lives in Georgia and enjoys a healthy relationship with her children. Sheila Butler’s website can be found at www.kidsinmotionplanner.com
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