Dad Getting Divorced Comes Up With Novel Way To Chat to His Kids—'Love You'

A father of three going through a divorce has revealed the inventive way he's able to stay connected to his three sons around the clock.

Divorce can have a significantly negative impact on children. In 2016, an analysis in the Journal of Family Psychology highlighted how children of divorce aged from 5 to 15 often experienced more behavior problems than those from families still intact.

However, the same analysis also noted that behavior problems were only at their most prevalent if the post-divorce home environment was deemed less supportive and stimulating than the previous.

It suggests divorcing parents face a challenge to provide that essential support and stimulus in the reconfigured family home. That's something Tyler, a dad from Minnesota who is currently going through a divorce and chose not to share his full name, is well aware of.

Though he no longer lives with his children on a full-time basis, he's found a way of staying connected to them 24/7 by setting each of them up with tablets with a kids' messenger app so they can chat with him whenever they want.

"Well, my kids have always been super tech-savvy, as many kids are these days. They had been using Discord to chat with me when they could, but that was inconsistent," Tyler told Newsweek.

"Then they got some tablets for Christmas from their aunt. My son actually mentioned wanting to get Facebook Messenger kids to me because his friends use it. So I looked into it a bit and thought how perfect it was! So I got it installed on all their tablets."

Tyler said that his two eldest sons, aged 10 and 7, will regularly message him. "My 7-year-old will message me almost every day when he gets home to say hi and chat a bit. It's super sweet," he said. "My oldest usually reaches out to complain about his other brothers."

The messenger setup with his sons has completely changed things for Tyler in a way that would not have been possible for a dad going through divorce even a couple of decades ago.

"It's not so much unthinkable 30 years ago as it was inaccessible to most folks. You could send an email in 1995 and the Internet was just starting to spread, but it was certainly not an easy process," he said. "Now with 3 taps on a tablet, I can be messaging my son. That's the real amazing part if you ask me."

It's not just about establishing a direct line of communication either. The messages have provided Tyler with special moments and reminders of the bond he has with his kids. One recent message, in particular, left Tyler touched. It came from his 7-year-old son who wrote: "Hi dad. Are. You. At. Work. I love. You."

"I was over the moon! We had just finished getting that installed a day or two before and then I got that out of the blue," Tyler told Newsweek. "He's been texting me almost every day. Those types of moments are truly special and I cherish them."

Tyler shared a screenshot of the message to Reddit, under the handle u/sirprichard. It's been upvoted 28,000 times. "While I'm surprised MY post got that much traction, kids being cute always is something that people love to see," he said.

There's a bigger message to Tyler's Reddit post though. One that he wants all dads to listen to. "I would encourage everyone to do this [set up a messenger link] regardless of what they're going through! At least if they have some easy way to install that app," he said.

"It's a free way to increase communication with your children, and anybody who doesn't get to see their kids all the time can see how that would be a great thing." Tyler is already seeing the benefits of this approach. He just hopes others might follow his lead and see it too.