My son's father has been with his girlfriend for 4 years and lived with her for 3. She has 2 kids, a girl who is 9 and a boy who is 6. My son is 12 next month.

Our families are intertwined. The girlfriend has been a friend of mine since high school (not super close but a friend) and I was her kids' favorite babysitter. I'm super fond of them. But more than that, there's a lot of love between the children, and the parents. It's like they're splitting a family in two, never to see each other again. My ex's partner is moving 1000km away to be with her mom this Wednesday.

I'm just gutted over it. I can't imagine how the kids will feel. My son will probably fare better than the other two since he gets to remain in the same home, keep going to the same school, be with his parents and his friends and his pets. The other two are leaving basically everything behind in the blink of an eye. I've been crying about it off and on for days now.

I called the school today to see what resources I could get for my son to cope with this. Counseling or something. It all just feels so unfair to the children involved. I'm worried that this separation will impact my son for years to come.

I would love to hear from you if you've had similar experiences. About how to support your children through something like this, or anything else.