Marriage Until 18
Graduation day for most families, is a day of completion; a sign that we did our job and our kids have made it through the required schooling years. Now they're 18, and preparing to enter the real world--job well done partner! But what about the families that are anticipating 18 for other reasons? Everyone knows that marriage is a serious commitment and a major life decision to take on, especially if, along the way you begin to have children. If the parents are mature, the kids wouldn’t know that the parents are struggling to stay together for them. They would argue in silence, secretly have affairs, and never display signs of no longer loving one another. It will be the “marriage until 18” secret. Most people in a marriage, have the top three purposes of trying to work it out as;
They're still trying to find out if the love is there.
Financially, it's too expensive starting over in a struggling economy.
The children are young and need both parents in the home.
These are the mature marriages experiencing tough times. Even though the reason to work it out is valid... is it the best thing to do?
What about the marriages, that are not mature, and both parents are struggling to have disagreements in silent? They're continuously arguing in front the kids, they no longer care if their spouse finds out they're cheating, and they no longer show signs of love and affection between each other. They seem to agree on one the thing though, and that’s keeping up appearances for the children. Is it healthy to think that staying together is the best choice for the children, just so the children can grow up with two parents in the home? I grew up in a one parent house hold that started off as a two, and as much as I love my father and loved him being there, I knew that it was best for my parents to split up. We underestimate our children and what they feel. As parents, we make decisions based on what we think is best for our kids but honestly, we’ll never know until we make a family decision on things like divorce and the “marriage until 18”. Are we taking a bigger risk of hurting our children, or helping them in the long run by waiting until they make 18? In this situation you can’t win for loosing, because if you divorce while the children are still young, the children will be hurt; but if you wait until they are 18, the children will be hurt and possibly feel lied to.
