My son often starts to fall apart when we argue. Gayle Peterson Gayle Peterson, MSSW, PhD is a family therapist specializing in prenatal and family development.
Conflict is a normal part of family relationships.
How arguments are handled however is crucial to the safety children feel in their environment when discussions involving differences in opinions take place. Naturally, there are some discussions which you might want to schedule at a time when you are child-free, simply because you will be better able to concentrate on what you are discussing without interruption. You may also choose to begin a discussion with children present, but agree to talk about the situation at a later specified time because of the need to focus your attention undividedly. Children need to learn skills for resolving conflict and there is no better way to teach this but to model it in your spousal relationship. When children experience their parents as working things out together, they learn that arguments are safe in the family.