Be conscious of not making your child feel sorry for you

This issue is referred to by the family law courts as attempting to align a child’s views to those of a parent, or parental alienation. This is a particularly harmful act as it also exhibits to the Court you are not child-focused and suggests an issue of your inability to co-parent and act in the child’s best interests.

It is not helpful for your relationship with the child as it effectively reverses the roles between the parent and the child, with your child more-so taking on the role as the parent. Children require your guidance, not the other way around.

Such behaviour can be malicious, with deliberate intention to hurt the other parent, such as telling the child the other parent doesn’t pay for anything or telling the child that the other parent is a bad person for whatever reason.

However, such behaviour does not only involve direct acts of seeking sympathy; it can also be instances of sub-conscious behaviour such as:

Crying in front of the child;

Telling the child that the other parent is taking you to Court

Expressing distress over the family breakdown

The impact your behaviour has on your child can be significant and, in most cases, cannot be undone, so you must always be mindful of your actions and behaviour.