I am 12 years old and three years ago my Mom and Dad got a divorce. It was a hard time for my family but things are pretty good now because my parents used a new way to divorce called Collaborative Divorce. This is my story about that time in our lives.

Hi! My name is Emma. I have a younger brother named Henry and when we were little, our parents used to argue a lot. When I was 9 and Henry was 6, our parents sat us down and told us that they were going to get a divorce. I remember that I cried and Henry did too, but our parents told us that they both loved us very much and that we would be able to spend a lot of time with each of them.

They also told us that they were going to use a new kind of divorce called Collaborative Divorce. I asked what that meant and they said another word for collaborative is cooperative. Since they have both told us to cooperate since we were little, we thought that was a good idea. They said that they were going to be nice to each other and try hard to share and get along. That was a big relief to me because when my Uncle Jack got divorced, my grandma called it a war. I did not want my Mom and Dad to be in a war with each other.
They went to meetings with their “team” and worked out a plan so that they could live with us in two separate houses.

Mommy had an attorney and so did Daddy, but they said they were all on the same team and were looking for solutions to the divorce problems. They told us that we could talk to a grown up who would explain everything to us and ask our opinion about everything. Mary came to our house and gave us a chance to talk about our feelings and tell what it was like for us to go through a divorce. My parents told me that she was their Divorce Coach which made me laugh because it sounded like a sports coach. Our coach helped us all make some good rules for our family during and after the divorce.

I am sad that my Mom and Dad had to go through a divorce, but feel very lucky that they found a way to do it that made it as easy as possible. I wish every kid’s parents would do it this way. This is a picture that I drew that shows how our family turned out after our divorce. It shows that they can still get along and we can still be a family even after divorce!