Mom's House, Dad's House

Now revised, updated, and expanded, this groundbreaking guide for parents and professionals covers the legal, financial, and emotional realities of creating two happy and stable homes for children in the aftermath of a divorce, including custody arrangements, mediation, and more.
Can children flourish in any custody situation? If their parents read "Mom's House, Dad's House," the answer is a resounding yes. This unique ground-breaking classic, which has become "the" standard for two generations of parents, is again breaking new ground with examples, self-tests, checklists, and guidelines. This comprehensive guide looks anew at the needs of all concerned with even more creative options and commonsense advice, including:
- The map to a "decent divorce" and two happy homes; healing yourself and your children; the New Family Bill of Rights after separation.
- Helping your children with age-specific advice; explaining change, giving them continuity and security; restabilizing their sense of home and family; danger signals; five ways to evaluate your children's time.
- Negotiating Parental Agreements; legal do's and don'ts; time arrangements; custody types; attorneys; how to get ready for negotiations; when to use mediation; using "HIRT" test when an agreement is broken.
- Breaking away from "negative intimacy" with a difficult ex; how to talk to your former mate; steps to building a "businesslike" relationship as parents; how to avoid becoming the neighborhood "soap opera"
- Sidestepping destructive myths; making the emotions, "flashbacks," and heartbreak of separation or divorce work for you and your child.
- Handling long-distance parenting; managing the return of an absent parent, holidays, remarriage, life without another parent