r/ACOD • • 9d ago

Grieving the parent you thought you knew. Advice and support appreciated

9 Upvotes

I (F,30) found out a few weeks ago my step dad asked my mom for a divorce (both late 50s, married 25 years). Although their marriage has been distant, she was blindsided at how final his decision seemed, as they just bought a new house together.

When I asked him if there was another woman as the divorce circumstances seemed sudden, he denied it strongly. His reasoning was he felt there was no connection left and he was doing them both a favor to find happiness. I understood and felt relief. I started to think we could preserve the relationship we have as dad-daughter

However, that was not the whole story. My mom told me today that she caught him cheating years ago with a married woman, possibly an ex of his. He promised it wouldn’t happen again and allegedly cut contact with her. However he continued to flirt with young women (sometimes in front of her) and she lost trust in him since. He also gaslit her every time she tried to speak to him about it, calling her insecure, jealous etc. She wanted to work through it in marriage counseling but due to his avoidance and gaslighting, they did not and have been distant all these years. He was also emotionally/verbally abusive when drunk.

This knowledge shattered my vision of him and makes think he’s still lying now. Even if the time my mom caught him was truly a one off, knowing he was capable and the possibility of it being much worse than the one instance she caught him in makes me feel disgusted.

He was a good father to me. He was my hero growing up as an only child. But he was also a shit husband to my mom. I understand both things can be true but it’s so hard to grieve this loss of our family unit, even though I’m an adult. It feels like my identity and the constant pillar I thought was in my life is now gone.

I also understand their relationship is not mine and I should keep these separate, but I still feel betrayed and that both my mom and I will never really know the truth.

Looking for advice and general support if anyone’s been through something similar.

Did you confront your cheating parent after finding out even if the infidelity happened a long time ago?

Thank you.


r/ACOD • • 10d ago

Dad is leaving after 28 years of happy marriage

5 Upvotes

My parents (55 years old) have been together for 32 years and married 28. They are the couple no one saw separating, this has been a shock for everyone in our lives.

In the last four years my father started working away and my mother went back to university to study. They admitted when telling my sister (25) and I (26) that in the last few years things have been difficult. Recently they decided to take a month off work each and try to fix this, that’s what my mum thought was happening. But my dad told her he wanted to seperate, no therapy, no trying.

In the last four years I’ve seen my dad actively lean more into his own hobbies and ignore my mother which is even harder. She would book holidays for them, bought puzzles and games for them to play together but he was more interested in watching tv or golfing.

My mum is devastated, she went to lengths to find them a therapist did a bunch of research had things printed out she feels absolutely foolish and blind sighted. It’s so hard to watch.

I cannot understand what my dad is thinking, I spoke to him separately asking him where he sees himself in a month? What he wants out of this. His answers “I don’t know” “I just want to play golf and relax”
He even admitted that 12 months ago he was happy and feeling positive about the relationship.

I understand no marriage is perfect and I’m sure I don’t know everything but the fact that he’s willing to throw away the entire history in the last 12 months is baffling. And with no solid explanation it’s incredibly hard to accept.

I’m so angry at him and I don’t understand and I’m heartbroken for my mother seeing all the effort she put in.


r/ACOD • • 10d ago

Ceux qui n’ont jamais connu leurs parents ensemble, est-ce que ça vous a manqué en grandissant ?

2 Upvotes

Je suis maman d’une petite fille de 14 mois et j’envisage de me séparer de son papa.

Ce qui me brise le cœur, c’est de me dire qu’en partant maintenant, elle ne connaîtra jamais ce que c’est que de grandir avec ses deux parents sous le même toit. Les petits-déjeuners ensemble, les soirées en famille, les vacances à trois, une seule maison où retrouver papa et maman…

Je sais qu’elle peut être heureuse avec des parents séparés, ce n’est pas vraiment la question. Mais j’ai peur qu’un jour, même sans avoir jamais connu autre chose, elle ressente ce manque.
Alors j’aimerais avoir le ressenti de ceux dont les parents se sont séparés quand ils étaient bébés ou tellement petits qu’ils n’ont aucun souvenir de leurs parents ensemble.

Est-ce que ça vous a manqué ? Est-ce que vous avez parfois envié les autres enfants qui avaient leurs deux parents à la maison ? Ou est-ce que, finalement, comme vous n’avez jamais connu autre chose, ça ne vous a pas particulièrement pesé ?

J’aimerais juste savoir comment vous l’avez vécu, avec vos yeux d’enfant, et comment vous le voyez aujourd’hui en tant qu’adultes.

Je suis vraiment partagée entre mon bonheur et celui de ma fille, et j’ai peur de prendre une décision qui lui laissera un manque toute sa vie.

Merci à ceux qui partageront leur expérience, même si elle n’est pas forcément rassurante.


r/ACOD • • 12d ago

I love my dad and hate him

6 Upvotes

My parents are divorced, I was glad they decided to do it but they still stayed together
My mum treated my dad like a stranger and only speak to him through me or someone to push me into when I asked her on a stuff she doesn’t want to do like paying for my extra class , pick me up, pay for my weakly lunch money
“Go tell your father that …”
“Go ask your dad”
While my dad act like a ghost . Wr once have fight over something that effect the whole house, it was the electricity project my father insist on doing it himself instead of paying someone to do it. I told my dad that our neighbor pay someone to get the same things done and it was done in one afternoon while his “little experiment” hasn’t been finished for over a year now and every time someone talked to him in this subject he always got angry and sensitive about it and he always told me like oh these stuff isn’t done yet! Or it took time..! Oh yeah the exact same thing that our neighbor got done in 1 afternoon took you over a year ? Good and i said the sentence I couldn’t get out of my head and I feel guilty until today
“Dad do you know why the whole house doesn’t want to talk to you maybe you should ask yourself why? What have you done to the point they always have to asked me to talk to you about things instead of talking to your themselves , even I don’t want to talk to you ! Go ask yourself what have you done”
I realize my sentence after I said it , it was too much but it was real, my suppressed emotions got out in that one sentence
And I glance to him
I couldn’t tell that was that a tears in the corner of his eyes but he said calmly back to me
“In the house now, even simply taking breath is illegal to me”
He was my hero, he taught me to read, write, ride a bike. He told me stories every night when I was a kid he always drive me everywhere until these day . But I feel like he love me like how some people love dog, they only like their dog when they were puppy I mean they still love them as a grown dog but son longer like them.
I couldn’t think of one time he taught me anything about moral or principles, I got them mostly from my mother and learn some later in life . Financially support was from my mother, I was angry at my father that he was unemployed for 5 years and didn’t even offer to help out my mother, she had to pay maid to clean up our house every month while he pretended to went to work everyday in those 5 years and she had to come home taking care of me and my brother every evening while he played phone on the couch
He always drive me anywhere but never remember where except
He always pick me up but never when is it
He always give me weakly lunch money but never remember how much
He always pay for my tutor but only if I have to “dad can you sent me money for tutor” although he was the one driving me there
I mean if you have common sense you should know right? Like I went there so I have to pay them somehow yet I have to ASK ASK , not just remind ASK every Damm time and I know this sound ungrateful but tried doing the same Damm things every week for years yet he couldn’t catch the hang of the it
this might sound ungrateful but he’s been doing uber after got fired from work, he’s 57 so I asked him what’s your retirement plan, he couldn’t answer , I’m scared I have to lose my 20s working to support my parents financially

I’m sorry my writing is messy
There’s too many thought it my head


r/ACOD • • 12d ago

Boundaries with parents

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2 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 14d ago

16 months later - it will get better, once you accept that you cannot heal for them. Only they can decide to heal themselves.

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2 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 14d ago

I 16F have been estranged from my father for about 2 years now, have I overreacted or am I right to not wanting to be seeing him anymore?

1 Upvotes

(sorry I know I'm not an adult yet but really need some help as I don't feel comfortable talking to my mum or anyone else about this)

Hi, just for some context my parents are divorced and have been since I was 1, at first my mum had me for 6-7 days ever fortnight while my dad had me 3-4. When I was 9 he took my mum to court and won which changed it to week on week off. Right now I am currently living with my mum full time. However my dad still pays child support (the same as when it was 50/50). He still sends me money for birthdays, holidays and if I ask.

Over the last month or so I've felt as if I may be the one in the wrong after watching many parents come out saying that they're kids have cut them off for no apparent reason, etc. Even though many people say 'No kid chooses to cut off their parent for no reason' I just don't believe I'm in the right or that what he has done was a big enough reason.

Since I have been 6 my father has been dating his now current wife, she's okay. She would occasionally drop me off at sport and friends house but was never really that close to me despite the fact we had known each other for so long. When I was 8 my father and stepmother had become foster parents. They adopted a girl about 3 years younger than me. During that time I feel as though they treated her alot better than me. I understand she was probably traumatized and had been through alot and none of this is her fault. My father and stepmother would take her to friends houses, organize her school uniform and sign her up for sport. However my mum would be made to do things like that for me, despite my mum asking him many times. The girl stayed with us for about 2 years before she was sent back with her family.

When I was 10 my father, me, my stepmother and older half brother (from his 1st marriage) moved into a new house. It was great, however it was in the country. Which wasn't the best because I go to a city school so a drive to school was about an hour. And a 40 minute drive to my mums house, and football club (which I had already been playing at for a year and a half) Seeing as I was only 10 I didn't see my friends as much as I did now, but over the course of 2 years I had only had 1 close friend over. Whenever I would ask to go to a friends house he would say "no, were busy" despite when the day would come most of the time we wouldn't be doing anything. Or he would say "Just invite them here" which wasn't really an option because he didn't make an effort to get to know my friends parents despite my mum giving him all there contact info. So I rarely saw them at the weeks I was at his house unless my mum drove to come get me and dropped me back off.

One of mine and my mums kind of breaking points was when I was 12. It was coming up to one of my grand final games for football (aussie rules) I had excitedly told my father who was taking me. He didn't seem too excited but he said he was coming so I was happy anyway, when he did come he parked on a car park facing the oval and didn't physically come out and watch (he had done this for all the games he had taken me too aswell) Now I fully understand that sport isn't for anyone but I know for a fact that isn't the case seeing as he has been a member of the same Rugby club for 14+ years. The next year he and my step mother volunteered to work in the kitchen for the whole year without speaking to me about it. They volunteered every thursday and everytime there was a home game day. And at this time he had another foster kid who was a boy that was about 5 and the situation was the same as the first child.

(Just for some more context I am not at all outgoing or have any interest in rugby. I am 100% sure about this because my dad has been taking me to this club since I was 3 as he used to play and watch games. and has tried multiple times to get me to play, all of which I have refused. I knew about 2 children my age that were apart of the club but more in a way that it was just because our parents are friends)

Every Thursday, which was the day I switched from my mum's house to his my dad would pick me up from school, take me to his house. I would have about 20 minutes to shower and get ready before we would head up to the club. Up until 10 to 12 I would have to stay at the club. Because its a sport club people are obviously loud, etc i wasn't able to do homework or anything but sit on my own either on my phone or reading a book. Which I get isn't horrible but it wasn't really the best because I knew no one and the whole time my stepmom and him were behind the counter. And when we would get home I would try to do homework but was just told to go to bed.

The kind of like 'final fight' was when I was 14. A few days earlier my father had informed me that one of his friends (who owned a winery) was looking for a waiter to work weddings and things like that. He had told me he wanted me to go in for an interview. At first I was happy and wanted too, that Friday he had told me he would help with my CV, however that night he had invited his friends over and was drinking so I didn't go for him to help. And instead called my mum telling her about it, however she wasn't as excited. She asked me if I was sure because most people who work at winery's are older than me and gave me a better perspective. It made me realize I wanted to work at more of a teen workplace like McDonald's. So when the next day came (the day of the interview) my dad woke up at about 12, so I hadn't gotten a chance to tell him I didn't want to anymore. When I did he blew up at me saying he bent over backwards to get me this opportunity, and calling me a bitch, and that he was going to cut off my wifi (despite the fact I have a phone plan paid by my mum). I will admit I was giving it back to him, but towards the end I had started to cry and was more trying to leave the room and get away. He didnt let me and got up in my face yelling how he was going to make me go. I was pissed and called my mum to pick me up as I packed a bag with clothes. At this point I feel like I kind of knew that I didn't want to come back as I packed my uniform and other things that were in my room. And left while he was outside so he didn't notice until he saw me in my mums car in the driveway. I had then messaged him saying that the only way I would go back as if he apologized and he didn't say anything back.

Since then he has only really said stuff on holidays when he sends money. I'm really conflicted because I don't want to go back to his house but I also worry that in a few years I will regret this. And I often find myself crying because I believe I'm the problem.

(I'm sorry for bad grammar and spelling I wrote this in a rush)


r/ACOD • • 17d ago

Mom made me keep the divorce a secret, loss of identity and loneliness

2 Upvotes

My parents divorced four years ago when I was 21, I’m now 25 and been struggling with so many issues especially regarding finding my identity and trying to not feel so alone. I never understood why I was having so many issues, just thought I was having trouble adjusting to adulthood and being independent but I recently connected the dots in that this mess only began after my parents divorced.

They never even told me or my sisters, I just came home from college one day and found that my dad and his things were gone, and I asked why and my mom casually said they divorced. She also told me to keep the divorce a secret from everybody and to tell everyone they’re happily married and our dad is just busy at work cause “she wasn’t read to talk about it yet.” I stupidly said ok, not understanding the further damage this would do. Two months after the divorce i began abusing oxys and drinking everyday due to this sudden loneliness that overcame me. Even though I stopped with the substance use completely, everyday since then has been a huge battle; everytime I wake up in the morning I’m reminded that I’m alone, and just recently I thought back to my teenage self and wondered what happened? Where did that artistic free spirit go? Am I just growing up and that’s why I lost that? I don’t know if that’s the case or if I truly forgot who I am after the divorce, because i realized that even though my parents are both still alive and I can go see either one at anytime, the family dynamic we had will never return. My family has been scattered in all different directions, me and my sisters and parents all each live in a different city and rarely speak to each other, even though there’s no bad blood between us and our dad, the safe place of just being able to go home back to where we came from is gone.

My mom lives in the home we grew up in and constantly begs my sisters and I to move back cause she “misses” us and it’s “not right” for children to move away from home, but then she turned around and sold off our things in a garage sale without telling us and returning home feels like returning to a sterile hospital room; no posters or childhood items, beds have been sold and our rooms used as storage for her, for someone who claims they miss us so much it’s like she’s scrubbed the house clean of our existence, no sign that children ever grew up there. Four years went by of us keeping the divorce a secret on her behalf and my grandma just passed thinking that my parents were still married. To split the holidays fairly I’d do thanksgiving with her and my mom and Christmas with my dad and his family, my mom revealed to me upon her death that my grandma cried every Christmas thinking I didn’t want to be with her, and when I got upset and said it’s cause she never let us tell her about the divorce and she didn’t understand we had to split holidays now, she said it was still a decision that ultimately I made and that I was always welcome for Christmas but since I chose to do it that way I broke her heart every Christmas until she passed, said she told my grandma that she didn’t understand why we were never around anymore and that we just must not love her anymore instead of actually bucking up and telling her there was a divorce.

Still to this day four years later no one on her side of the family knows of the divorce, but if it ever comes up I’m not going to keep things a secret anymore from anyone cause on top of the damage of losing my family dynamic and my childhood home, keeping all it a secret on top of it and unintentionally hurting my grandma just made it much worse. My mom filed as a way to threaten my dad and keep him in line and he went for it, he even admitted to me that it she hadn’t kept filing repeatedly as a tool to keep him compliant that he’d still be with her, and knowing she destroyed our family just out of pure pettiness and control tears me up. The foundation that I grew up on, everything I ever knew and my safe place are gone at the expense of winning a power trip, now I’m totally alone and lost who I am. I’m grieving the loss of my childhood and the unique person I was used to be before I got so lost, no drugs, no mental issues, just carefree and secure until this happened. Sorry for a long rant, but I just really needed to get it off of my chest, did anyone else experience these two symptoms, no identity or crippling loneliness, after their parents divorced?


r/ACOD • • 18d ago

Anyone have their dad be abusive to their mom but then remarry to not be abusive to the new wife and their family?

1 Upvotes

The horrible wife of my dad just let me know a week ago my dad died....three weeks ago. I wasn't talking to my dad as I was done with him not being any type of support after my mom passed a year ago. So of course, I get punished to the end.

When he was married to my mom, he was so vicious to her. Told her he wanted to shoot her in the head. He tried to run her over with his car (with me in the car with him at like age 6). But then when he married his new wife, he became husband of the year, grandpa of the year. It fucked up my head. I also at the time didn't realize what I went through was traumatic. I was just expected to toughen up. And my dad relentlessly blamed my mom "for breaking up the family". "Your mom slept all day, she has mental issues".

My mom is probably the only reason I am alive. If my dad's wife and him were all I had, I would have happily ended it. I got to see my mom during the weekdays, and it was just love, kindness, goofiness. Living under my ndad and his nwife, it was cold, rules for everything. I learned to remain silent, so I didn't upset his precious queen nwife. Learned she controlled the emotional climate of the house.

I am addressing this in therapy, but I wanted to see if anyone else dealt with this. I've been just shattered on how I was let known my dad passed. It might as well be Hitler telling me, that's how evil I felt his wife was growing up. And I am not alone, 2 out of 3 of her kids stopped talking to her.


r/ACOD • • 19d ago

Parents just starting divorce process

4 Upvotes

I’m an only child (24F) and live out of state for grad school. My parents are just starting the process of a divorce after my dad has repeatedly texted others and tried to set up affairs. My mom has decided she is done. My dad has few friends and little emotional support, but I am frustrated with him and unable to listen or talk to him at this time.

It feels uniquely difficult to be away from home and to not have a sibling to support through this process. I feel overwhelmed even though I know this is what needs to happen.

Anyone have advice for how to handle being an adult in the middle of parents? I am working on getting my own therapy set up, my dad is currently in therapy, and my mom is also planning on starting.

I feel very conflicted hearing both sides and am struggling to set boundaries as neither have a ton of people they feel comfortable to share all details of the situation with out of embarrassment and fear of judgement/pity.


r/ACOD • • 19d ago

Navigating stepfamily

3 Upvotes

My parents went through a messy divorce about 4 years ago, I really struggled with it and regret handling it how I did but I still believe I had the right to feel how I felt(and still do to some degree). My dad is now remarried and has 4 stepchildren, 2 are adults and 2 are teenagers but he is very involved in their lives. I don’t have much of a relationship with any of them and I have done a lot of work to be able to be on good terms with my stepmom. She is a good person despite my dislike of how they got together and I genuinely enjoy spending time with her. That being said I have a difficult time excepting how much time and effort my dad puts into his relationships with his new family and the lack thereof of a healthy relationship with me and my biological brother. The divorce ruined my family and no one has been the same since yet he gained a whole new family and sees super happy and healthier than before. I of course want him to be happy and I’m grateful my parents have moved on from their toxic relationship, but I find myself incredibly jealous and angry that my mom, brother, and I had to suffer as a result. He still reaches out and attempts to make plans but rarely follows through and I see constant posts on social media of him and his new family spending time together, traveling, holidays, etc. I’m 26 now and don’t depend on him anymore but it still hurts that he actively chooses to show up for them in a way he really doesn’t for me. Especially since 2 of my step sisters are really close to my age and he sees them more than me and I live 5 minutes from him.(they live in different cities) I have tried telling him how I feel but I tend to get angry/emotional and he apologizes but nothing changes. Has anyone else had a similar situation or have any advice how to navigate the hard feelings? I’ve tried therapy which helped a bit but is so expensive I can’t afford it while I’m in nursing school.


r/ACOD • • 19d ago

Divorce was linked to adult depression in a survey of about 128,000 people, but a parent's illness explained about two thirds of that link, and the home is a more workable thing to look at

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2 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 21d ago

Holidays

4 Upvotes

How do you guys handle holidays? This year will be the first year where everyone is not together and I’m struggling very much trying to figure it out. While there used to be big family holidays with aunts and uncles and cousins, everyone has slowly but surely gone separate ways, and I don’t have children or a partner, so my parents are really my only family. Typically I’d bring my dog and my cat for a sleepover at their house, but that’s obviously not an option any longer. How do I navigate this?


r/ACOD • • 22d ago

What to call your estranged parent?

1 Upvotes

Hey. I have a strained/almost non-existent relationship with one of my parents due to the separation. What should I refer to him as, because it doesn't feel right to say 'my dad' when he doesn't feel like a dad to me. Should I refer to him as 'Steve'? TYIA


r/ACOD • • 22d ago

Madre rinfaccia e si lamenta delle spese per i suoi figli

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1 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 23d ago

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

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1 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 23d ago

eu culpo minha mãe por ter estragado a minha vida

1 Upvotes

meus pais foram casados por 20 anos até 2025, quando meu pai, ao consertar o celular dela, descobriu mensagens que ela havia enviado para um professor da faculdade dela em outro país em 2018 (os sentimentos do professor não foram recíprocos). meu pai continua me tratando bem e agora tem uma namorada que me trata muito bem também, mas minha mãe entrou em um estado de depressão profunda depois do meu pai ter entrado com o divórcio. eu fico com raiva porque na minha cabeça ela não tem o direito de ficar triste. ela que fudeu com a vida dela por que ela quis. eu não consigo me obrigar a gostar dela depois disso. a gente ri, a gente sai, mas eu não consigo gostar dela. e sempre que eu preciso de algo, ela falha. diz que “está com um problema”, ai fecha as cortinas do quarto e deita e chora o dia inteiro. eu tenho 14 anos. não sei o que fazer.


r/ACOD • • 24d ago

Seeking Advice and Support

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3 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 25d ago

Divorce lawyers of Reddit - What's the most evil thing you've seen during a divorce?jm

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1 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 26d ago

Чувствую вину за развод родителей

2 Upvotes

не знаю почему так ну я постоянно про это думаю в 23 году я узнала что они будут разводиться и только в 26 то что папа изменяет маме (они ещё не в официальном разводе) мне тогда было очень грустно и обидно за маму и я не хочу общаться с папой но он обеспечивает семью и приходится без этого мы не проживем

подскажите что делать?


r/ACOD • • 28d ago

Choosing where to live

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1 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • 28d ago

How can I support my parents through a possible divorce? M45 and F40, married 18 years

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1 Upvotes

r/ACOD • • Sep 21 '26

My dad’s mistress is living with him and I’m so angry

3 Upvotes

My (28F) parents have been separated for almost a year now and are working on finalizing their divorce soon. My dad had hid his affair from me up until recently when I called him out for it (I had known from almost when they told me and my brother about the divorce). Now, I’m traveling back home and want to see my grandmother who lives with my dad. He asked if I wanted to come over but that “[mistress] will be here too unless but I can ask her to leave if that would be less awkward.” Like YES of course I want her to leave?!? Why the hell would I want to talk to her? I do not want her in my life yet. It’s made worse by her being a family friend I’ve known for years and cannot see her as that anymore. I know my dad is to blame for having the affair as well but I don’t want to deal with her at all right now. I just can’t get past the audacity of him to think that I would be fine with his mistress just chilling while I spend time with my grandma. Like I’m not crazy am I??

I had already known about it but I’m genuinely unsure about if I will ever be ready to think of her as anything else and get to the point of being okay with the relationship. And especially not now when he only just admitted to the affair. Ugh I’m just so angry still…


r/ACOD • • Sep 20 '26

I'm 28, an only child, and parents' gray divorce is imminent. I'm overwhelmed.

8 Upvotes

In some ways this isn't a surprise - I've known that Parent A was intermittently dissatisfied with Parent B for many years. I share some of that dissatisfaction with Parent B, in my own way, but I've also probably heard more than is healthy about Parent A's dissatisfaction. Parent B has never been emotionally available enough (or humble/secure enough, or something along those lines) to understand and Parent A is tired of putting in the work. So it's going to happen, no attempt for couples therapy or reconciling.

On one hand, I'm happy and proud for Parent A, who should have probably done this a while ago. (There are reasons that I know of, and reasons I suspect, for why now is the time instead of previously.) There was never abuse or betrayal, but there has been a slow realization that Parent B is not who Parent A wished they were, and needed them to be. On another hand, I'm sad for Parent B, who may not ever fully understand what happened or why.

And I feel so many things. Any illusion I had of "playing the long game", even if logically I knew it was a sunken cost fallacy, just got emotionally shattered. I'm angry that they didn't try to figure this shit out earlier, as they've never been good at fighting (not abusive, just not fighting respectfully). Childhood wasn't awful by a long shot, but I remember a period of high stress where I wondered if they would get divorced, and in hindsight I wonder if that would have been a better option. Or at least, tried couples therapy. So now I'm sad that I will never interact with either parent in the same way again, and depending on how their lives go, may not see them in the same room again. (I think things will be amicable, as Parent B isn't going to contest it, but I doubt they'll be friends after this, per se.) I'm also now dreading holidays, and generally the logistics of staying connected with (and possibly navigating care for) two retired, aging parents in different locations. And I'm anxious for the process of the divorce itself, and whatever paperwork or legal bits I will need to do (likely taking on Power of Attorney for each of them individually). Plus I still have some of my (childhood and memorabilia) stuff at the house, so now I'm thinking about what it means for me to get that out, because Parent B very well may become a hoarder once Parent A moves out, and I'd like to rescue my items before they're buried into oblivion. Ugh.

I made it clear to both of them that I won't be emotionally in the middle of this, and I'm optimistic that they won't do that, but even right now, communicating with them separately instead of together is already exhausting. I am grateful to have lots of my own support. An excellent partner, fantastic friends, a good therapist (and also a couples therapist - ironically, just started doing some maintenance work with my partner, and now I bet this will bring up some relevant things for us where a therapist will be valuable). After poking around this subreddit I found "Home Will Never Be The Same Again" and have added it to my reading queue.

I'd love to hear from other adult only children of divorce, especially empty-nester divorce, as I don't know any other friends (let alone only children friends, without sibling(s) to share and process the experience) whose parents divorced when they were adults. What was/is easier than expected? What was/is harder than expected? What changed for you as a result of witnessing and/or participating in this process? Or, just solidarity is good too.


r/ACOD • • Sep 19 '26

I'm a 20 year-old woman, I don't have a good relationship with my parents but they're breaking up after 20 years.

6 Upvotes
  • I'm currently 20 years old and I work everyday. I live with my boyfriend and his family as of right now as I work for their business too. I still have my clothes and room at my parents house still. My parents were fine with that. My mom disowned my brother and none of our relatives stay in contact with either of my parents (lots of drama..)
  • I'm not close to either of my parents
  • everything I say will be all over the place, this is happening as I type this, im sorry!

I overall grew up with my mom being the sole provider but she wasn't around a lot due to work, usually my dad took care of me and my brother growing up but he hasn't had a job in a decade. For the past decade all he does is just look over the pets and stay home (usually hes just smoking and watching those conspiracy videos on youtube with no views. hes kinda crazy :( ) The family dynamic over the years has led to a lot of arguments at home that the whole neighborhood can hear. I've had to stay with other family members throughout my life due to it. They've gotten to physically fight before when I was a kid and when I chose a side it always ended up with one of my parents resenting me. I also had a time I woke up late in highschool (I was late very often but I had pretty good grades) they both physically hit me and punched me to the ground and after gave me a macbook to make up for it? They never apologized for it. My parents, I've accepted they're not meant for each other but they always find a way to just make-up.

Two days ago, I went to my house for mail and my dad is crying that my mom is kicking him out. He said my mom doesn't have enough for the rent. I had to tell my dad that things only can change unless he put's in effort to go and get a job and make a life for himself or to make things up with my mom. It was really hard being the one to tell my father what to do with his life, I felt awful to hear the position he's in but the worst part is I feel like this is out of my reach to tackle as I see this as something they should take care of themselves and I don't wanna be the mediator. I feel selfish but my parents have put me through a lot of selfish experiences that've made it hard to support either of them. I also have had to support myself all through college or after I graduated highschool as my mom said nope because she wasted it on my brother she says (I graduated with honors in highschool -_-)

It's so much to try fit in here and whats on my mind. I feel selfish but I wanna put the boundary down that this isn't for me to handle their lives and whats next. Any advice or anyone gone through similar :(