Emotions can run high after a divorce, especially if your co-parent is exhibiting signs of trying to alienate your children.
Learning about how this tactic can harm your relationship with them can help you determine what steps to take next.
Confusing Your Children
According to Psychology Today, a co-parent that discusses sensitive details about the divorce or your personal life with your children can cause tension and worry. Since your children are not old enough to learn about this information, it can greatly influence how they act around you.
The co-parent often only shares details that make you look like an unfit parent, including lies about how the divorce happened. Confronting him or her about this discussion can lead to an argument, which also causes additional tension between all of you.
Restricting Bonding Time
A co-parent refusing to drop off your children at the correct time or picking them up before your visitation is over can harm your bond with them. This problem can escalate when you notice missing invitations to a school event or a doctor’s visit.
Alienation can leave you feeling confused and struggling to stay in touch with your children. Your co-parent may even limit the number of texts or emails your children can send you.
Increasing Anger
If your children begin to act angry around you and cannot give you a reason why, it could be because your co-parent is lying to them about you or what you think about your children. One way to alienate children is to convince them their one parent secretly dislikes them or is the reason for the divorce.
Learning about these common tactics and why they happen can help you if you feel alienation is going on.