We are often asked how to divorce or break up without hurting your child. In this series we share seven steps to help ensure that your children stay well adjusted after your divorce or break up, and are shielded from the fallout of your splitting up with their other parent.

When 23-year-old Mason McDeid was a toddler, his father Richard arrived home from work to find him crying. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence, says Richard; Mason has cerebral palsy, and, from birth, there had been far fewer moments where Mason wasn’t crying. But this day was different; on a whim, Richard began playing the album ‘Binge and Purge’ by Metallica.