There is a right way and a wrong way to do just about everything. Often times the best way is the easiest way, but when it comes to breaking news that mom and dad are getting a divorce, whether you're a couple in Pennsylvania or somewhere else, there really is no easy way. Still, it has to be done. So, here are some thoughts on how to best tell the kids from professional relationship coach David Wygant.

To begin with, Wygant says neither spouse should cast the other as the bad guy in the scenario. Even if mom and dad hate each other, comments by one parent that cast the other in a negative light likely will only create life-long alienation between everyone.

In Wygant's view, children of divorce have a dream that the parents will somehow stay together. It's their dream of perfection. Toss a rock into that pool and the ripples can rock the parent-child relationship in ways that may never be calmed. The effect can even go beyond interpersonal relationships, upsetting a young person's psychological equilibrium so much that their life goes into a tailspin - at school, with friends, and more.

And the children don't have to be young. Wygant was 19 when his parents split and he recalls he went out of control. Even though he was old enough to understand that sometimes couples just fall out of love, he felt it like a little kid.

His advice: frame the divorce in as positive a light as possible. Explain that while two people can still love each other, they can't always continue to live together. Respect and honor may remain, but not the ability to live civilly under one roof. The children need to be reassured, maybe more than once, that they didn't cause the divorce. Don't even suggest that things were better pre-children. They didn't cause the breakup.

The mere availability of inexpensive, no-fault divorce doesn't smooth over the sensitive issues of the breakup of a family. Couples with minor children can purse uncontested divorce, but they must fully agree on child custody and child support before seeking the dissolution.

Source: Huffington Post, "So You're Getting Divorced. How Do You Break The News To The Kids?, " David Wygant, Sept. 7, 2011