Just went to a family function where there were dad there with new partners/ex husbands/ex wives etc. It all felt very awkward and I don't know if this is because I am suddenly concious that this will affect me now as my childrens dad and me have been split up for six months now. My question is do I really have to go along to future events and pretend to like it for the sake of my kids? I suppose I probably know the answer is yes but I was hoping for just their weddings and the occasional birthday. This particular family although divorced seem to get together for everything and I know they hate each other really. Is this really best for the kids? Surely if everything is so great 'we are all best chums etc' it's confusing as why did they split up in the first place? Why do these divorced people have to pretend like they are on an episode of friends, its all so false. Is this really teaching our children the best way to handle things? Are fixed smiles and buried feelings really always for the best? I'm not saying we should ever badmouth our exes, I only speak positively about my ex and his family in front of the kids and will always keep my personal feelings about him to myself for their sakes but I am skeptical of being dragged along to every family occasion god sends and inviting him to every birthday/xmas/grand opening ceremony/bar mitzvah....you name it! I divorced him which means I want to see his ugly mug as little as possible (without it making the kids life harder). I suppose I hope it gets easier with time....But should we not have more boundaries ?