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  • best things about separation/divorce

    I came across a really old, very long post that I found interesting and thought I would start the same to see what the current member think:

    Putting aside all the negative things about divorce/separation, what are the good things that have come from it for you?

    I no longer walk around tense all the time. That took quite some time to go away, and it would come back under certain circumstances. I didnt realize until it was over how much i had altered myself to work around someone else's mood. Now I can be myself

    I have complete control over my finances which I love!!! Overall I am poorer for sure, just from having 1 income in 1 household. But at least I can make my own decisions that are my decisions.

    I love being able to be in my own house and eat what I want without criticism, cook what I want,

    I love have 1 less person to clean up after and do everything for. My own fault for getting into that state to begin with I know. But it is still nice to not have a make a dentist appointment for another adult or do their laundry.

    The bottom line, I do not regret it at all.

  • #2
    Great topic and I recall participating the last time this went around. So I've been living on my own now coming on 10 years this Summer. I agree with much of what you say above but I will add my points of view now.

    1. All those years that I crabbed about picking up after other people I have been forced to face the truth: I leave a pretty big mess in the kitchen after I cook and no one else is leaving the crumbs and causing extra vacuuming after nights of eating in front of the TV - It's me!
    2. Sheets still need to be laundered regularly and laundry still needs to be done regularly. I am annoyed at my own habits of having to turn my own socks inside out before the wash (it wasn't just his). I am annoyed at looking at the frequent soiling on the hand towel in the bathroom... by me.
    3. I like being able to watch the shows I want when I want. However, there is no one around to bitch and gurn about the latest political scandal.
    4. I fall asleep in front of the TV often at night. No caring person stirs me from my slumbers to get me to go to bed... I instead wake up in a state of confusion, back aching, and have to get up and go to a cold unmade bed (remember we don't have to make the bed anymore).
    5. I eat what I want, when I want and I find I have put on quite a bit of weight. No fear, no one around to give me "the look" when I indulge in a second helping.
    6. I love to cook and try different things. Well... those days are behind me. I'm now at the age where I have to make sure everything is salt-free or gluten-free etc. No one around to bitch and cry because I'm not cooking with heavy cream anymore so I guess that is a good thing.

    Yes I am content and yes I would not change decisions made a decade ago. No regrets.

    Comment


    • #3
      Arabian it sounds like you are ready for a new love.

      I can honestly say I am revelling in my aloneness these last couple of years. I cannot even fathom having a partner, I just could not do it. Maybe someday in the future I will feel differently, but for now the idea of a partner sounds like a nightmare. Having just gone through and finally finished the separation agreement to then ex trying to change it all not too long after, the idea of having to negotiate even the tiniest little thing with some new partner in my house is too much to bear.

      Comment


      • #4
        Interesting topic. Made me stop and think. I like the extra closet space for sure. I like that it forced me to put my career on speed dial, I am really enjoying being back in the work force. I like eating store bought rotisserie chicken and salad for diner and not expected to have a proper homemade meal on the table when the ex came home. I also like Kraft Dinner, so do the children.

        Do I regret it, YES!!! I find being a single parent a struggle, I am NOT one of those Super Mom's who can do it all. Its discouraging at times to learn that all a parent has too do to be a parent is to pay their support $$$ and be done with it.

        Comment


        • #5
          Being a single is really hard for me too. I feel like I am barely keeping it together between work and home. I have more demands on my time because I work but on the kid side it’s the same. I was pretty much a single parent when I was married. I did everything!!! Now I actually get a break break every 2 weekends. It took me a long time to come to terms with my husband not participating and realizing he couldn’t really handle parenting and divorced long long after that. Divorcing actually reduced my workload at home but increased my workload in paid work

          If you were still married would you be getting more help from husband than you are now?

          Comment


          • #6
            I do enjoy my every other weekend breaks! You have a good point, my ex didnt help around the house with chores and I was expected to do it being a stay at home Mom. I do think its easier having 2 parents/adults in the house. I find most of my evening I'm running around prepping for the next day. An extra set of hands for bath and bedtime would be nice. Or even having someone reading a bedtime story, so I could put away the laundry. I find myself using the electronic devices too much to entertain the children while I try and get it all done.

            Looking back I definitely think my ex couldn't handle the parenting, now that I know what its like to work full time and and juggle kids. To me he had it easy coming home from work and just enjoy the children because all the chores were taken care of. Your absolutely right, that not having the ex here is less in the way of not having to cook for him, clean up after him and do his laundry, but I would take an extra set of hands any day to help with the kids even if its just playing with them or staying home with one, while I took the other to an appointment or swimming lessons. I also suspect he wouldn't have help more if we had stayed together and I had gone back to work.

            I'm just not quite there yet in terms of letting go of the fact, that it was just so easy for him to walk away. From me yes, but I still cant wrap my brain around the fact he could so easily walk out of his children's lives. It was I that forced his hand by initiating court proceedings to get him to take the kids for more than a few hours a week.

            They say it gets easier as the children grow older, but I am petrified of raising 2 teenage boys on my own.

            Comment


            • #7
              The kids and I enjoy the fact that we no longer have to walk on eggshells. I love the fact that spaghetti filled pots and pans, shoes, boots and clothes no longer end up on the lawn because my ex had a temper tantrum. The riding mower doesn’t get driven into a tree and the weedwacker is safe from harm even if it doesn’t start on the first pull.

              It’s so nice to come home from work and Know that all your stuff and that of your kids is still there. He used to sell our things in a garage sale if we went shopping. Came home from work one day and he’d taken the bank barn down! I had to scramble to find emergency boarding for my horses because he was taking the fence down too.

              I don’t miss the death threats to me, the kids or the animals any more than I miss the yelling, screaming or smashing of inanimate objects. Don’t have to worry about anyone chucking my celll phone out the window on the highway.

              Can’t say I miss the almost constant police presence during our marriage. The whole entire force would come to the farm. 10 cruisers lined up end to end down our driveway.

              Don’t miss the monthly calls from ER. Your husband is here.

              Life is much much calmer now!

              Comment


              • #8
                It also feels rather decadent to have a hot shower any time of day or night I want. He had the electric water heater on a timer so we only had hot water for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. He also only every had one light bulb on at a time anywhere in the house. I leave a few more than that on now!

                He cost me a lot of money during the marriage because i’d Have to buy the kids clothes or toys to replace their stuff he threw in the garbage in a fit of rage. He was also hard on tv’s, plates, remotes and cell phones.

                It’s taken many years for us to recover from him but we are all much happier.

                Comment


                • #9
                  WOW, Stillbreathing!!! Your ex makes mine look like a Saint. Sorry you have to go through this. Obviously your ex has Mental Health issues, mine is just "stressed".

                  I wish you much peace and happiness for you and your children.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    It’s also nice to be able to set the thermostat at whatever temperature I want. When we were first married I put the thermostat up a few degrees and the next day he put a nail in it so I couldn’t adjust the temperature. That was the first time I left him.

                    Other things I don’t miss:
                    - having him chase me down and run me off the road
                    - being in the vehicle with him while he engaged in a high speed chase after some poor driver who cut him off
                    - not being able to put the groceries away because the fridge was full of beer
                    - having him put his hands on my throat, threaten me with a knife, threaten that I would wake up to find a dead horse in the barn, buy a gravestone with my name on it, hold the kids and I hostage threaten to kick in my mom’s garage, tell the police my elderly mother with double hip replacements kidnapped our toddler
                    - having my blacksmith, the neighbors and his own brothers call the police on him when he had an explosive rage episode



                    Nope, don’t miss any of that. Life is very boring now in comparison. I actually documented for court how many times police attended our farm during the marriage. 25 times! I only called them five times. The other 20 times other people including him had called them. My ex is catastrophically brain damaged and is actually missing some of his brain tissue... hence the behaviours... very sad. Very dangerous but it’s almost over now.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      We had to buy a washing machine a couple of years ago and it took us 30 minutes. My contribution was “I don’t need bells and whistles, it just needs to wash”. When we left, my fiancé said he and his ex would have argued for several days before buying one.

                      He likes the peace, the low key lifestyle, the ability to make his own decisions about money, the lack of arguing, the high stress home life. He said in his marriage there was never a discussion about things, she just made decisions and told him what was what. He’s told me a few things and I can see how he reacts when his ex pops up.

                      I just never understood why people treat the person they are supposed to love so badly. He is a good person, why did she try to beat him down?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Disclaimer: I am not comparing my situation with Rockscan they are completely different, but I wanted to add my perspective on my own situation. That said....

                        Yes, I would have been the one fussing over the machine machine, cause I need a rapid wash for time, a sani cycle for when the kids shit their pants, and an regular cycle for the peed bed sheets, and the heavy duty cycle for when they puke on the area rugs.

                        My ex also loves his new low key lifestyle with his new life partner as he calls her (except for 6 nights a month) but maybe not handing over cs . No trying to coral 2 kids into snowsuits to a bus and daycare on time, no make lunches, no forgetting homework. I picture him enjoying a second cup of coffee, while mines gotten cold on the counter, not to worry its on the floor now, a 4 year old elbow knocked it over trying to reach the cereal box.

                        Then coming home to a kid free clean home not having to pick up kids from daycare, perhaps even enjoying a cocktail while I slurp on a 1/2 empty juice box from unpacking their lunches, cause heaven forbid they are allowed to throw out any trash in the school bins. Shall they order in, or whip something up together over another cocktail? After dinner they can snuggle up and catch up on Nexflix, while Paw Patrol to the Rescue belts outta our TV. We have already eaten our dinner, I stayed up late the night before to prep something for the crock-pot. Jeez I wonder between the 2 of them who will tidy up their kitchen? Mine will stay dirty till I get the homework supervised, the laundry started, bath and bedtime done, then I will hit the books for study time. By this time, they are probably in the bedroom working on their dream family. The new partner, will be the Pefect Mom, she will be able to handle it all, not like his "crazy ex".

                        I'd trade my high stress home life in a heartbeat for his. I would love to be that parent, the children love you just the same anyway. I dont hate my ex, I did love him and still do as the Father of our children, and yes sometimes we treated each other badly out of exasperation.

                        Thanks for my vent for the night!
                        Last edited by kate331; 02-10-2019, 09:37 PM. Reason: sp

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by rockscan View Post
                          I just never understood why people treat the person they are supposed to love so badly. He is a good person, why did she try to beat him down?
                          In my case the EX did and still doesn't realize it. She treated me poorly to ensure that I wouldn't turn out like other men in her life.

                          While I don't enjoy the solitude, I do enjoy being free to decide my course. I always love cooking with my kids and doing daddy and son/daughter days. I really enjoy the ability to come home and decompress, my home is a real sanctuary to the outside stress.

                          My ex did not like my family, but now my daughter has a great relationship and spend lots of time with her aunt and grand-mother.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by kate331 View Post

                            Thanks for my vent for the night!
                            lol. vent away...when I see your posts- I absolutely sympathize- but I can only partly empathize because I can't imagine getting shit done with two special needs kids...and I freaking live at home with my mom who is barely a senior, very active, retired and is really hands-on with my daughter. Well- I know what I would do- and her name would be "nanny ____".

                            As to this post. I guess the best part is enjoying my time with my daughter. I have help with her now- I'm not dead on my feet by trying to keep my career up, run a house (financially and physically), and raise a high needs toddler. Honest to goodness- the best part is being able to eat my dinner at 7:00pm after I've fed my daughter. She plays with my parents while I take a 1/2hr to actually just enjoy a meal.

                            The other great part is starting to feel better about myself again- and remembering who I was/am. I'm starting to remember I'm an accomplished, attractive, badass lawyer.

                            I get to keep more of my take home pay- w00p!- even though I've got additional (re friggin astronomical) legal fees....because I don't have to buy everything for someone else besides my daughter.

                            I'm not worried about keeping up with anyone else (my ex was OBSESSED with us buying income properties- like all his friends have- and just appearances in general).

                            Comment

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