Smack Talking About the Ex

My ex-husband and I were discussing smack talking about exes the other day. We both see that come up in parenting groups on Facebook.

I don’t think it’s cool to do that. Sure, you might have a beef with him or her. You’re exes, it comes with the territory. But if you’ve got kids with that person, you’re in an unbreakable contract with that child that even divorce cannot dissolve, and the simplest requirement of that contract is to not harm them. Smack talk about the other parent breaks their little hearts. Just don’t do it. Anywhere.

Facebook is a public forum, and your child, someday, might be able to peruse an archive of your posts. Would you want them to see those snippy cutting remarks you made?

Does it help improve the situation to speak poorly of someone behind their back? I don’t think so. You should be trying to smooth things, not rile things up. If you can, go ahead and try as hard as you can to turn that negative relationship into a positive one. Steve and I could probably say a lot of nasty things about each other, if we wanted to be hateful. We chose not to, despite reasons we could have held onto. And our children are the better for it. It really needs to be about raising children together, not about the anger and failings and upsets and stupid stuff you’ve both done.