Avuncular? Dissonance? It's a weekend, Raliced! I'm at a disadvantage because I live with a nonverbal kiddo who doesn't stimulate my vocabulary. Well, unless you count all the cool medical lingo I've picked up through the years? No? Ok. I'm going to lose to you. :-)
My only hope for banter is with my now D21 (today is our birthday😄), but she's hungover and could barely talk to me today. I'm pathetic!
On a note to,get back to your dissonance post, don't you think that people are complex, difficult to label and our box-y categorization a little biased and from a single POV? I have to admit, it took me a long time to feel in my heart that my XH had his own set of accurate gripes about me. Perish the thought! But... Like RPP, my XH turned out to be a better dad and friend than husband. I reconciled that.
As the kid of a cop, I can tell you it's not easy to be married to one. My folks are the only ones in their circle of friends still married. And even then, my mom came close to kicking Dad out when I was 17. It's a tough dynamic. I think we kids had it easier because we just believed he'd be ok. My mom struggled with it. My dad had a few friends who were cheaters. Serial cheaters. And I loved them. But they were adrenaline junkies and addicted to living on the edge. I'd like to think these men have/had regrets, but what do I know?
Hugs for being that person. Your kids are fortunate that you're their mom.
Betsey
"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
