My ex married the OW 7 years ago. I remember the first time seeing her post a pic of her and my daughter on FB. I only saw red. Now all her profile pictures are of the 3 of them. She wears "twinning" clothes with my daughter and posts pics on FB. They actually entered my home the other week with the same T-shirt. That got under my skin big time.
I thought for a while that my ex and his new wife were living the life we should have had. It's not really the case. he is still him, he is still no good, and treats his wife and sadly, our daughter, very much the way he did me. So, they might be all under the same roof, vacationing together, taking pictures together, but I don't believe if my ex and I were together we would be living some great life. My daughter would be more exposed to seeing my ex treat me like garbage. That's not a magical life. You don't know what goes on behind closed doors.
Please, you are a wonderful mother who provides the stability. My ex and his wife provide vacations and family parties and all that stuff. But I provide the decent home, the homework help, the trust that mom is taking care of everything she needs for school, health, life. She knows when it's important, she comes to me. I sent her dad to a school Ipad meeting last night. He has her and he could go. She kept telling me I had to go because I am the one who takes care of everything! Trust me, they know.
Your kids will recognize how strong you are and all you do for them. Ho you have overcome adversity to give them stability. Trust me. My daughter is just about 11, and she sees it. And not to brag, but my daughter is one amazing little girl. And I know it's because she sees all her mom does to give her a good life and how I get my stuff handled.
I really do understand how you feel. I was there for a long time. As time goes on, some of these things might still sting, but they don't linger. You can turn right back to all the positive.
