DENISE ALBERT: This is the most incredible program, and I
am so excited to be a part of it.
When I decided to get divorced, there was really
nothing out there that my kids could relate to.
So the fact that my kids, I have a character, Abby Cadabby
that my kids, I could say, look, she's going through the
same thing that you are.
It's just really incredible.
It's really important for kids to have a character in their
lives that is actually going through what
they're going through.
A lot of people don't know how to talk about divorce, and a
lot of people don't want to talk about divorce, and that's
why I started writing about it.
And so to be able to have this conversation here with Sesame
Street is the most incredible thing, because divorce affects
40% of children.
And it affects 1.5 million children each year.
There was nothing really out there for my kids.
There was nothing, no character that they could
relate to, o when Sesame came out with Little Children Big
Challenges, Divorce, and having Abby Cadabby being able
to sort of have the same story as my children, it was the
most incredible thing.
ABBY: This one is where I live with my mommy, and this one is
where I live with my daddy.
JEANETTE BETANCOURT: The reason that we went down this
road is exactly because we heard from families about the
need to talk about divorce more openly.
But more importantly, getting the child's point of view.
What it is is really a collection of resources.
Multiple media resources that include the wonderful story
that you got a little glimpse of.
Really showing not only Abby's story, but also the stories of
actual families and children in different situations.
We also have print materials that help guide for parents
and caregivers, on questions that they may be asking, their
children may be asking, and they may have a hard time
responding to.
We collected this information on an app, so that you also
have this on the go, and it may sound funny for that, but
the thing is, as we know how many children ask questions in
the most inconvenient places you may not expect, and so we
wanted to go where children are.
And then in addition to that, all of these
resources are online.
There are also resources to help organizations, in case
they are reaching out.
Because our idea is that we're not standing alone.
That there are resources out there, and we encourage this
to be included into community resources as well.
ABBY: [SINGING]
I've got big feelings, feelings, jumbled up inside.
I got big feelings, feelings, yeah.
BEN TAYLOR: Well, it was important for me to be here
because I've been through it myself.
I kind of know how it affects kids, I know how
it affects my children.
And so I just wanted to take my experience and hopefully
help other people go through that situation a little better
than I did with the benefit of my own hindsight.
If mom were ever in trouble, would you help her?
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah.
BEN TAYLOR: [INAUDIBLE].
So it's like, you know, and I'm like, well, of course.
Mom is family.
She's always going to be my family.
Trust me.
That's just what it is.
She's always going to be my family.
We're always going to be connected.
I would absolutely help her.
They just want to know that you're connected to them, that
you will still care about their mom.
And I'm sure they'd ask their mom similar questions.
GREG LEVINS: Being divorced very, very young.
My kids were very, very young.
My son was a year and a half.
My daughter was just under three.
So my daughter [INAUDIBLE] has a recollection of me living at
the home, and my son has no recollection.
So it's just kind of like they're, over time, it just
kind of like, phases itself out and becomes like their
new, reality.
So as long as you don't like, dwell on anything negative, or
anything, at least in my case, the questions kind of
start to taper out.
So what I did was basically every
month, create a calendar.
And create with my children, and so my children literally
would sit down at the library with me,
and OK, it's February.
So let's draw the grid, and let's do the numbers.
Et cetera, et cetera.
And so it became like an art project, every single month.
And then every day they saw me, whether it was school
pickup day, or if it was the alternate weekends, or a
special holiday that they were with me.
Of course I jazzed it up with some sort of sticker, you
know, for something special.
HAROLYN MITCHELL: Well, it's really important to me to be
here, because my daughter is just four and a half, and we
have been separated from her father since she was one.
And it's a really difficult process for her, because she
doesn't really know what's going on.
She's also in school full time, and she's surrounded by
other children with mommy and daddy bringing them to school.
And when I heard about this, I thought it would be a
wonderful opportunity for her, and for me, to explore what's
going on in a friendly, happy environment, with characters
that she knows, that brand that we know.
In the book that's in your packets, Two-Hug Day, she goes
through certain emotions that she discusses, and she also
has these different things that she's doing.
And I'm using that with my daughter right now to help the
transition, because she sees her father alternate weekends.
And it's difficult for her, because she wants to stay with
mommy, and she wants to see daddy.
ALLISON BARLETT O'REILLY: Healing comes in
identification.
That's what I believe.
When people can say, yeah, me too, or I feel that also, and
that's, who better than Sesame Street to do that?
To let parents know, to take away the shame of it, to take
away the taboo, not talking about it.
Here we are.
We're talking about it.
It's real, it's here, and we're going to do it in the
most poignant, beautiful, kind, educational way we
possibly can.
We felt it was very important for he and I to sit down and
do it together with them, because it was going to be a
family situation.
And because we'd made this decision, like, even though
we're divorced, we're still a family.
Which was like what you said, Mike.
However, in telling my children, and I don't know if
this was in the other question, but it's just
interesting, in telling my children about two years ago
that I'd met someone, and all of that, that I did very
individually.
Because that was not a family situation.
That was a decision that their mother had made, and now was
responsible to impart on them, and allow them.
And there's still situations where we have family--
where it's just the five of us.
Where our spouses are not involved.
We have family situations.
JEANETTE BETANCOURT: Today we had the opportunity to have a
wonderful panel that included actual parents who had
experienced divorce, as well as a guided discussion with
members in the audience about questions
that they had on divorce.
So we have the opportunity to go around this wonderful topic
of Little Children, Big Challenges, Divorce.