Parental Alienation Awareness Day April 25th

Sometimes, things don't work out in a relationship.  What looked good in concept just can't play out for the "happily ever after" for a couple and things come to an end.  Thing is though, in those relationships, kids come along and when things fail between the parents, the kids end up stuck in the middle of it all and there is no where for them to turn.  There's a term for it.  It's called Parental Alienation.




The idea is, if things end up going south between the parents, it's on them to love the kids more than they hate each other.  The behind the scenes dynamics include parents trying to "out-do" each other, leading the child with ideas about the other parent, planting seeds of doubt one or the other.  Let's cut right to the chase, we've all seen it, and for those who are in the middle of the split it's a remarkably hard task to keep the spite back and focus on what's best for the child.

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In Muskegon Jerry and Lashawn Matthews teach by example.  The couple have both been down the road of the "bad example" and have seen first hand the difficulties that arise for the kids when parents can't get along post breakup.  The operate a 501c3 called Papalienation and they work to raise awareness of the long term effects on the children in the middle of a break up and offer parents better ways to manage their anger toward each other.

April 25th Jerry and Lashawn will take their message to the county courthouse again.  Yes, there is actually a day dedicated to parental alienation.  They will be promoting awareness for positive parenting by speaking to folks heading in to court, handing out some information so they can be better informed and this year, there will even be a chance to get yourself a free lunch at Golden Corral on April 27th where they will be hosting a Positive Parenting brunch.  Sure, there will be food and prizes, but to get there to hear the message, and learn from someone who's been "down that road" already will prove invaluable.

Jerry and Lashawn invited me to their home to talk about this years event.  Take a listen.

It's simple. The kids have to come first.  A toxic relationship can be equally damaging on all involved, but when it comes to an end, the damaging effects of parents trying to use their child in the middle of their differences only claims one victim, and it's the child.  If you'd like to know more, click on the photo below and visit the the Papalienation website.  Make sure you stop and see them on them on the 25th at the courthouse for more information and the 27th at Golden Corral.