Moving through the transition from where two people who have created a family together to single parenting and re-partnering is difficult. Often with emotions of grief and loss of what you once had and now forming new relationships with your children as single parents. Then re-partnering and the children learning to accept a new caregiver in their lives needs a new awareness for all. To relinquish the ’spousal mindset’ to a ‘co-parenting mindset’ and then to a new ‘parent mindset’ needs skills.
By practising what I have termed ‘considered listening’ this can be achieved, where you learn to:
1. Pause before listening to quiet the mind
2. Choose to tune into the other person - listening to what’s being said and what’s not being said - turn into the body language, tone of voice and the other’s emotions.
3. By truly connecting with others builds trust and shows that we care.
If we can do this - others are more likely to listen with consideration to us. Modelling this to our children will also help to develop stepfamilies that a happier and more harmonious.
