Should you force your child to continue with lessons

[sandraeli]

You're doing great.

I'm a single parent of ten years, and my son's dad and I used to put ourselves through the "because of the divorce" guilt. Before you attribute any child-related thing to divorce, ask yourself whether other children and parents are experiencing the same thing.

My son didn't do well in second grade with a particular teacher, and we beat ourselves up all year over it. The next year, identical twins moved to that grade, one in my son's former teacher's class and the other in another teacher's classroom. Both parents in an affluent, well-adjusted home, and guess what? The misery of the twin in the culprit's classroom could be seen from a mile away, made even more evident by the happiness of the other. The teacher moved on after that year.

By the way, I don't consider my home "broken." The marriage, yes, but not our home. We have pizza and movie night, go to Grandma's house and play with cousins, ride bikes (though not as much as either of us would like), and have heart-to-heart talks and moments we might not otherwise have shared. My son is 15 now, and I believe someday he will make a wonderful husband and father. Just use your heart.