'AITA for telling my ex-husband's wife during therapy that he admitted our children complain about her?'
A Reddit user, known as Quirky_Ad4132, recently shared a difficult co-parenting dilemma in the r/AITA subreddit, where she’s been caught in a conflict between her ex-husband, his wife, and their blended family dynamics.
The situation escalated during a therapy session for co-parenting, leading to a tense altercation that left her questioning whether she acted wrong by revealing private information from her ex.
Co-parenting therapy session erupts into chaos
In her post, the 36-year-old woman explained that she and her ex-husband, who is 40, share three children—two girls, aged 12 and 11, and a 9-year-old boy. Since their divorce, he remarried Janie, a 38-year-old woman with two children.
The new family dynamic has been challenging, particularly because her children have openly expressed their discomfort with Janie, especially the girls. They claim that Janie is trying to replace their mother, which has caused significant tension.
"The problem is my kids dislike Janie, my girls more so, and they feel like she tries to play their mom and push me out," OP wrote.
This revelation led to more tension and ultimately landed the family in therapy for co-parenting, where things took an unexpected turn.
"In our therapy sessions Janie complained about me and said she feels like I refuse to accept she's also now a mom to my kids and wants to ruin it by making up complaints," OP added.
During the session, Janie complained about OP, accusing her of sabotaging her relationship with the children and claiming that the kids were simply trying to "stir s**t with the adults."
At this point, OP brought up the fact that her ex-husband had acknowledged the children’s complaints, which caused a fight to break out between him and Janie.
“This started a fight off between my ex and Janie. It derailed the session because they walked out to deal with their marital issues,” OP concluded.
Her ex-husband, who was not happy with her bringing up the private admission, was furious. He felt she threw "him under the bus" in front of Janie. He said she could have handled it better, while Janie accused her of trying to "break up her marriage" and creating unnecessary drama.
Reddit community supports OP
The Reddit community overwhelmingly sided with the poster, with many calling out her ex and Janie for the lack of transparency and support.
One commenter pointed out, "He’s quick to say OP threw him under the bus, but he’s doing exactly that to his kids by letting them take the brunt of Janie’s mommy bs and not being honest with his current wife. NTA."
Another added, "If she actually wanted to be a mom she would listen to the kids. She’s mistaken the role of “manager” for parent."
A third commentator remarked, "Maybe she should stick to her own sequel and let your kids enjoy their original version. After all, who needs a plot twist when you’ve already got a classic?"
"NTA its not your fault that your kids feel this way and your ex needs to put the kids before his new wife. If they tell him that they are uncomfortable with her behavior he needs to address it with her instead of letting her think that you are the problem," said one in support of OP.
A person said, "Yeah, kinda defeats the purpose of therapy if you don't put everything on the table. Of course, since this was court mandated and not voluntary, it seems at least 2 people involved weren't ready to be open. NTA for treating the process correctly."
Another wrote, "NTA. Why would he even agree to therapy if he wasn’t going to tell her the truth."
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