My dad has recently been caught having an affair with his young personal assistant. Huge scandal; mom was very angry. Now they’re in the middle of divorce proceedings. Mom moved out, the other woman moved in and I chose to stay with him because we’re super close; he’s like my best friend. Now mom’s telling me to go and live with her and go no contact with him cause he’s a bad person and by continuing having a relationship with him I’m condoning his actions and “ignoring her suffering”. My relationship with my dad hasn’t changed, I don’t see why I should end it.
OP you have given us way little information. How was your parents marriage before this blow up? Were you not close with your mother before? You mention you are close with your father but nothing about mother. Also were you upset or angry by the actions of your father? From the information you have shared (that you are staying with your dad and his mistress), it seems that you are not bothered by what is happening.
Now based on the limited information you have given, your father is clearly the guilty party here. He did something that is morally wrong. Hopefully you understand that. Your mom is very hurt and must feeling betrayed (slightly even by you because you chose to stay with your dad and his mistress). In that emotional state, she is making a unreasonable request to you (to go no contact with your dad). If you want a good relationship with mom, you will have sit down with her and reach an understanding and compromise with her. Maybe you can go to therapy with her like some other commenters suggested. One thing I am sure about is that if you side with father on everything, you will end up estranged from your mom.
Their marriage was always hot and cold. I never had a great relationship with my mom. She’s a very judgemental/cold person. She hated my feminine behaviour/preferences growing up and still does and used to berate me for that. She didn’t support me when I came out as gay. My dad always supported me. In a way, I’m glad their marriage finally broke down. Life at home is so nice and peaceful now without her around.
Stick to your guns OP. People here are judging your Dad for cheating, but it sounds like your Mom has been actively alienating everyone around her for years. People who make life difficult for those around them will eventually find themselves alone. People eventually stop dealing with their bullshit, and move on in life. It sounds like you and your Dad decided to move in a less stressful, more fulfilling direction. He found love, and you found peace, while your Mom wants to continue sowing discord, drama, and chaos in your lives. I don’t blame you for rejecting her efforts, and choosing peace.
No, no, he cheated. If only he was open with it, it would be okay. But this is disgusting instead. Rather a honest asshole than an eye servant. Eventually, with this attitude you will succumb to stress and fall apart. Be honest instead. Before then, you can’t even work on not being an asshole.
I don’t fully agree with you, we don’t have enough details. From what i’ve read mom could have been abusive towards dad (at least emotionally), and that makes doing everything in the open pretty scary. I’d forgive someone who cheated to get out of an abusive situation.
Yes, you are correct but it seems very unlikely that he ran to his young assistant for help instead of some other trustee and then got in a secret relationship by accident.
Sounds like this is a no brainer to me. I’m a step parent to a brilliant kid who’s father is a complete narcissist, and I’ll tell you this, if a parent tells you to dislike the other parent, don’t trust them without evidence. Make your own decision, and listen to the parent that let’s you make it. A caveat is that a better parent probably won’t tell you all of the bad things they’ve had to deal with, and it’s important to remember that everyone is human and makes mistakes.
It’s ok to have a relationship with both parents, and it sounds like you know which parent to trust. That doesn’t mean you need to cut your mom out of your life, you just get to have a different kind of relationship with her. I’m a fan of honesty, if either parent does something you don’t like, tell them so and ask them to stop. If they won’t, you’ve got a real good answer as to who you want to spend your time with.
So she never accepted you as you are and didn’t support you when you needed her most? Your dad’s no saint, but if I were in your position, I’d sooner end contact with my mother than my father.
Well if the that is case, there is no reason to compromise to have a relationship with your mom. Being with your dad is the way better option for you (since he loves you and you love him) and maybe it is the best option for everybody involved.
Still I hope you understand that at some level what your dad did was morally wrong. Irrespective how crappy things were, the correct order would have been to seek divorce before hooking up/dating somebody else. Learn from the mistake he made.
I’m very sorry to hear you’re going through this. I’m glad you have a father who accepts you for who you are.
What I realized way too late is that my parents are human and humans are inherently stupid. They got their fucked up understanding of how relationships should work from their fucked up parents. You are an adult and you can make your own independent decisions, don’t let anyone power play you into feeling like an obedient child.
Some people are only meant to be together for so long and if the outcome of that relationship is you then it was worth it? Now move on and do something you like
Your mom needs therapy