Section: USMLE

12) The parents of a 7-year-old boy divorce. The boy lives with the mother and sees his father every-other weekend. During these visits, the boy is sullen and angry with the father, but when it is time to return home, he clings to the father and cries in a desperate manner while saying “I’m sorry! I want you and mom to live together again.” Which of the following is the most helpful statement that the father can make to the son?

“Big boys don’t cry.”
“I left your mother, I didn’t leave you.”
“I’ll see you in 2 weeks.”
“You’re the man of the house now.”
“Your mother was too hard to live with.”