Absolutely true. My W's bff (and my W, while she was in the throes of WW-dom) constantly repeated the mantra "you know, the kids are really being awesome, they are really taking this so great", as she and her H split, divorced, she told the kids about the A (code word "New Friend") that bff was having, and then moved the herself and the kids 1000 miles away. The truth, however, was that the kids were downright miserable, in one case clinically depressed, angry... in a word: completely effed up. But W's bff didn't care as long as she could repeat the mantra that let her feel guilt free.
It really is like they have a script they all read from.
H53/W51, R-ing 4/'18
"Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires"-Sg.of Sg 2:7
"So oftentimes it happens,that we live our lives in chains, & we never even know we have the key"-Eagles III 1:3
