How My Parents' Divorce Ruined Our Holidays And Family Life Forever

How My Parents' Divorce Ruined Our Holidays And Family Life Forever

From an anonymous author:

"Navigating a divorced family was and is like walking through a field of landmines. I was supposed to call my stepdad Dad but by his first name when I was with my real dad. I also certainly was not to ever refer to my biological dad as my real dad in front of my stepdad -- I mean Dad.

"My dad (real, not step) also remarried a woman I was not supposed to talk about in front of my mom. My stepdad wanted me to call his parents Grandma and Grandpa, but they told me not to 'because they were never really going to be my grandparents.'...

"When I was a child, anxiety loomed over visits with my dad. Both of my parents always loved me, but to have excitement to visit my dad was a judgment against my life with my mom, and to be happy to return home after a visit with dad was an indictment against him. Either way, I caused a parent grief. I was torn in two and couldn't tell anyone how I felt. I coped by pretending whichever parent wasn't present at the time didn't exist."