Book excerpt: As you face one of life's most difficult transitions, divorce and child custody mediator Dr. Blackstone and pediatrician Dr. Hill offer step-by-step guidance on how to put your children first. This road map covers communicating the news in a developmentally appropriate way, helping children cope and preventing the effects of toxic stress, shared custody and parenting plans, confronting bad-mouthing and other challenges to positive co-parenting, handling concerns about safety or abuse, remarriage and blending families, co-parenting for the long haul, through the teen years and beyond, and more, with the goal of healthy, happy kids informing every step along the way