Using unsavoury terms to refer to an ex-spouse could upset your kids, sometimes because they aren’t sure of what is meant by the reference. — Dreamstime/TNS
MY ex is not a good person. She sends me terrible text messages that the kids have read over my shoulder. They tell me she refers to me as “sperm donor” when she talks to her friends. (They aren’t sure what that means, but they know it’s bad.) Now the kids are telling me they don’t want to go back to her home. We alternate weeks, and this is a real problem. What’s good ex-etiquette?
When a co-parent badmouths their co-parent in front of the kids on a regular basis, one of two things can happen. One, the kids begin to identify with the badmouthing parent and follow suit; or the more common response, they reject the one badmouthing.
