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DIVORCE: 10 THINGS I LEARNED AFTER THE FACT

The Day Your Ex Remarries Is REALLY PAINFUL.
The only thing worst than hearing your ex is remarrying from a third party is actually hearing the news from your ex. Obviously a no-win situation. No matter how glad you are that your ex is your ex, you'd never take him/her back and you're thankful you're divorced, it's still a painful time. It's that last nail in the coffin of what was once your marriage— and your hopes and your dreams. If you know anyone whose ex is getting remarried, don't let them spend that day alone. And if you know your ex is getting remarried, don't spend it by yourself— unless you really enjoy digging a dark hole and crawling into it. (Obviously the kids will be attending the wedding and unsure of how to be of comfort to or deal with the other parent.)

After All This, Know That There Is Still Such a Thing As A GOOD DIVORCE
Yes, you read that line correctly. Now this is not to be confused with divorce is good, but there are ways of turning this lemon into lemonade. Read up on how to do it. There are lots of /books to help you— even I've written one. Making peace with life's changes is good for you, for your kids and for your life. Divorce is not the path to be recommended easily, but it's not a terminal illness or a contagious disease either.

I did not come up with the term "good divorce." I'll credit that to Constance Ahrons, author of the book, The Good Divorce. "A good divorce," she says, "is not an oxymoron. Astonishingly, in my studies, I found half the divorcing couples we interviewed had civilized— and many amicable— relations with each other. Another surprise was that almost everybody wished to be on better terms with his or her ex— even the ones who had bad relationships. I'm tired of the doomsday reports and the label of the `broken home.' We have been so inundated with negative stories of divorce that men and women need to hear the message that they can make their families work better, minimize stress and not feel like total failures. In a good divorce, a family with children remains a family— one that is sufficiently cooperative to permit kinship bonds to continue. Perhaps if we begin to revise our expectations of what divorce means, all parents who divorce can do so with civility and respect."

Vicki Lansky
Columnist and author

www.practicalparenting.com

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