How do I explain split to ds?

[susannahmoodie]

My brother has broken up with his gf of 9 years after he had had enough of her serial cheating..... V sad for him but do think it is the right decision. He has come back home to my parents' for Xmas alone and told us- we were expecting her too.....

What I'm wondering about is how to explain this to ds age 5 nearly 6......he will certainly notice her absence, calls her "auntie", has only ever known my bro as a couple with her and they sort of come as an uncle and auntie pair.....

I want to explain it to him in case he says something awkward to my bro but saying "auntie and uncle don't love each other any more" sounds too much whereas saying they've "fallen out" or something seems to trivialise it.....not sure with how to best put it?

I have a 5-year-old and I'd probably tell him that they don't want to be together any more, because they weren't happy. I wouldn't say they've fallen out as it sounds like a permanent split that's been a while coming.

Young DC are very accepting, I find, as long as an age-appropriate explanation is given.

I would say something along the lines of she had other friends you can't have if you have a boyfriend and so they had to separate.

Others on here have put if better but similar.

Maybe that she was wasn't very nice to him sometimes and we don't like people in our lives who don't know how to be kind.

It's the line I use when my dd sometimes talks about why she doesn't see her father.

I won't use df because he's not. He's the dark lord

They've decided to be friends but not to be boyfriend and girlfriend any more.

My DD was 8 when her uncle, her dads brother split from his partner, whom she called auntie. They had a daughter, my DD's cousin. At the same time DH and I were going thru a rough patch. DD was confused, to tell the truth. So we had to explain that her uncle and his partner had tried and tried to stay together but found their differences were too big and decided they would be happier apart. We also told her that even though mummy and daddy were also unhappy at the moment, it was different because a Mummy and Daddy are arguing over silly things and they were being resolved. My brother in law has a new partner whom he plans to marry, but DD has decided not to call her auntie, but just her given name. She has no relationship with the former partner now (family politics).