Child-witness

I’m 11 years and 3 months old. Soon I’ll be going to the courthouse because my parents are arguing over whether I will stay with my father or go with my mother when she moves to another country. I tried to hide my sadness when my mother left the house, but I knew that it wasn’t working between her and my father anymore. Luckily, they decided to share custody fifty-fifty, so I see them both the same amount. At my school, lots of kids’ parents are separated. Sometimes there’s a big fight in their family, like with my best friend who hasn’t seen his father since fourth grade. I’m happy that it was different at our house. My father lives three blocks from my mother. One week I live with him, the other with her, so I have two houses. If I want to, or if I forget something, I can go to my other house anytime. It’s cool!

But soon it’s all going to change. My mother explained that her boss gave her a promotion, but that she will have to live and work in another country, far away. She showed me the place on the internet and in some books. I’d really like to go with her because it’s really different there, and it’s very beautiful. Plus, I’m used to living with my mother because when I was little, she stayed at home with me. She is less strict than my father, too. But I do cool stuff with my father, like playing basketball, building a doghouse or fixing his car. It’s fun to be alone with him, just us guys.

I have lots of friends and some are even girls. Of course, if I leave with my mom, I’ll make other friends, but I’m afraid I’ll miss the ones I have here. School won’t be a problem because I’m going into secondary school soon, so I would have to change schools whether I stayed here or not. Since my mother’s company pays for children’s studies in the other country, I’d go to a private school there, in English.

Sometimes I have trouble sleeping when I think about all this. I talked about it with my lawyer. I was pretty surprised when I found out I had my own lawyer: I didn’t know this was even a possibility. The first time I went to her office, I was a little shy. She promised me she wouldn’t tell my parents anything I said unless I gave her permission. I met her often and she reminded me that I could do things like use the internet. It’s true that even if my mother or father lives far away, we can write to each other every day and even see each other using a webcam. My lawyer told me that I didn’t need to choose between my mother and father and that it was up to them to agree on where I would go, or, if they couldn’t, for the judge to decide. Good thing, too, because I love them both. She also said that if I left with my mother and it didn’t work out in the other country, I could come back. In other words, I won’t have to stay there forever!

My lawyer will go in front of the judge with me and she will ask me some questions. All I will have to do is answer honestly, tell the truth. Other people might ask me questions too, like my mother’s lawyer, my father’s lawyer, or the judge. I hope that I don’t get mixed up. If that happens, my lawyer says she will help me.

It still makes me a bit nervous. I can’t wait for it to be over. Of course, I would have preferred that my parents stay together, but, well, that’s not possible. They don’t love each other anymore. We’ll see… If I go to live with my mother, I will come back to be with my father as often as possible, like in the summer, over holidays and during school vacation. Same thing if I stay with my father: I will go see my mother in the other country.