The child may revert from being once loud and giggly to quiet and still (75). Edward Teyber, a child clinical psychologist, noted that "these perfect little girls become overly concerned with being neat and good and may lecture or scold other children as if they were a parent or teacher" (11). Not behaving like the other naughty kids, the child believes that if he shows how good he can be, his mom or dad will forgive him for the unacceptable behaviors he once displayed and come home (Francke 75).
Many children confront denial while experiencing divorce. Francke defined denial "as the mechanism of self-delusion that can forestall truth at any age" (76). The divorce may seem like a figment of the child's imagination. He may look past the truth that his mom and dad no longer lives with him and resort to telling peers that his mommy or daddy is just at a meeting or out of town for awhile. Denial is considered a completely normal stage that children will eventually out grow; however, should the denial process progress for a long time, it could greatly affect the child's life (Berger 140).
Doctor Stuart M. Berger stated that "regression occurs when a child, instead of growing mature, seems to move back to an earlier stage of development" (142). Children of divorce seek regression as an attempt to return to the days when their mom or dad still lived with them (147). Regression may consist of the child hitting his brother or sister, carrying his baby blanket, wanting a pacifier, bedwetting, wanting assistance in being fed, or sucking on his thumbs again (Teyber 11). The child has out grown all of .
4.
these acts, but since the child is so distracted by his confusing emotions, his basic development has been disrupted (Kalter 53).
AGES 6-12 .
When expectations of marital bliss become nearly impossible, people feel cheated. This is one of the reasons that the divorce rate is holding steady at 50 percent (Holland).
