Surviving divorce, for some, is one the most difficult challenges a person can face during a lifetime. When a child or children are involved, however, a divorce becomes monumental in proportion. Not only does the permanent separation of two parents have a major effect on a couple's offspring, but it is even harder to swallow considering the children have no other choice but to hang on and survive the ride.

Understanding child custody and how to best coparent a child after divorce is very difficult. It is however, also the most effective way of reducing the initial trauma your child may experience during a permanent breakup. Quite typically, parents don't want to engage in child custody disputes, but end up in sticky situations regardless of their good intentions.

"We both knew we had to put our children’s needs before our own disagreements...we could never put our children in the middle of our adult situations. I continue to be unclear as to why some parents are able to put their children’s needs first and others are not but I have seen the effects of either of these paths on the many children who live through the divorce of their parents, including my own."