The actions of Mississippi parents after a divorce can have long-term impact on the youngest members of the family. While co-parenting is often seen as one of the most beneficial types of custody arrangements, it can also present challenges when parents engage in certain behaviors. Encouraging loyalty to one parent over another is one way that parents may cause harm to their kids.
What are loyalty traps?
Loyalty traps occur when parents act in ways that make their children feel as if they must choose one parent over another. This can happen when there are still lingering hard feelings between the two parents that carry over into their parenting decisions. Loyalty traps can make kids feel confused, and they may begin to affect the way the kids think about the other parent.
One common loyalty trap occurs when parents ask their kids to function as a spy and report back on the other parent’s actions. Loyalty traps can also occur when parents use their kids as confidantes for their own issues or messengers to go between the two parents. Kids function better long-term when allowed to have strong relationships with both of their parents after a divorce.
A strong foundation
To make a co-parenting arrangement work well, it is helpful to have a thoughtful custody and visitation plan in place. Mississippi parents will also find it helpful to keep their kids as their focus when making any custody or parenting decisions. By keeping the needs of the kids first, it may be easier to avoid loyalty traps and other harmful behavior.
