Eva Amurri Martino had "an out of body experience" when she and her husband Kyle Martino told their children that they were separating.
The 34-year-old actress – who is currently pregnant with their third child – was dreading having to explain to her kids Marlowe, five, and Major, three, that they had ended their relationship.
Writing in a new blog post, Eva said: "It was the event that I was the most worried about and nervous for, and one of the hardest emotional milestones I’ve ever gone through. But we got through it together, it ended up going well (although SO sad and hard), and going through that conversation taught both Kyle and I a lot about ourselves and about our relationship moving forward.
"Our priority in all of this has been making sure our kids are okay through this process and decision, and I think telling them the way we did really set the tone for their experience moving forward. By the way, this is one of the hardest monologues I have ever had to get through. Saying it was an out of body experience, and I had tears coming down my face the entire time. Kyle took half and I took half of this speech, and we practiced ahead of time together.
"It’s okay if you cry. Acknowledge that the tears are there because this is hard and sad. There is NOTHING easy about saying these words to your kids. But being clear, saying them, and getting it out in to the open is so important. And the first step to a healthier family dynamic."
Eva decided not to share how the children reacted to the news but admitted that there was some "refusal" initially.
She explained: "For my kids’ privacy, I will keep their reaction to our conversation private. I will say that it was as awful as I worried it would be, and some parts were even worse. We talked for about twenty minutes all together. Thankfully, we had gotten some good advice about dealing with the reaction. We were told that no matter what our kids said, it was important to validate their feelings, to tell them how much we love them, and that we are a family no matter what.
"We also experienced some refusal about our decision. We told the kids that we heard them, but that Mommy and Daddy thought a lot about this decision and we decided that’s what’s best. We reinforced over and over that our love for them will never change and that we will continue to all see each other a lot, and be together as a family during the big moments."
Eva and Kyle – who got married in 2011 – announced they were going their separate ways in November but they have remained on good terms.
Eva Amurri Martino found it hard telling kids about split
