Greetings from Dr. Mark!

Hello Friends! Hi Kids!

This section is for all the children whose parents are separated and divorced.

Here, I want each of my new young friends and readers to find comfort on this page.

(If you’re an adult reading this page, you may find it interesting to learn what children really would like their moms and dads and other family members to know!)

Kids, did you know that grandparents are mom’s and dad’s parents? That they love and want the best for their grandchildren, too? Sometimes, when mom and dad quarrel, they forgot that. When parents divorce, it’s so very difficult for everyone.

Is it difficult for you? Maybe you’re a mom and dad? A grandparent? Maybe a cousin, an aunt and uncle!

This time of change is difficult for everyone, right? Sometimes we don’t know what to say, and we don’t know what to do. We feel so helpless. All of us might.

When most parents do separate and when one leaves the house, still, for most children, they can see their mom or dad every other week, sometimes even overnight during the week!

Wow! How cool is that?

But, for other children, their parents can only enjoy their time together when another person is invited to observe mom or dad during their parenting time with you. This is called supervised visitation.

Did you know that 3 out of 10 children living with one parent at home can only see the other parent at scheduled times during the week, and only with another adult present? You’re not the only one with such an arrangement. That’s really sad.

But that’s not because mom or dad don’t love their children. It’s because many parents don’t have the money to pay a Toby Center staff member to attend the visitations with mom or dad as often as the children want. The parents have few people to ask for help, and they know even fewer people from whom they can borrow money to pay the fees that the courts want parents to pay. But that’s for now! So hang in there!

But for most kids, you do have a special time with your mom or dad during the week! That’s awesome!

If you’re an adult, become a Toby’s Kids Friend when you make a donation to Toby’s Kids Scholarship Fund!

Kids, you can each share your story, find a cartoon to view, maybe find an image you can download and color! Do you like to write poems? Maybe tell a story? You will be able to do that here! Maybe you’ll also learn some interesting things about yourself and how to adjust to changes in your life.

I’d like you also to understand a little about how mom and dad may experience this separation, because they are hurt and sad, angry and disappointed, as you may feel.

But remember, you are not the reason why your parents no longer want to live together. They love you, but it’s now very hard for them to live with each other. I know, because I had the same experience as your mom or dad. But trust me, they love you bunches!!!

Toby’s Kids is your page! If your parents approve, they can send me you’re your poems, your stories, pictures with your mom and dad! You can tell me what you want to say! You can tell me what you’d like to see here!

Write to me by clicking here! (opens to Mark.roseman@thetobycenter.org)

I hope you’ll tell each of your parents, your teachers and your friends about the Toby Center!

Wishing you lots of joy!!!

Dr. Mark