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Parenting

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Fixing the damage from an affair

43 replies

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 03:39

I'm American I dont know if that matters.

First time poster here what I am going to say may make some of you angry please I hear how terrible I am all the time.

I'm 39 my Husband is also 39 and we have been married 14 years. We have one 13 year old Daughter. She has always been a daddys girl and she is the light of his life. They adore each other and I was always proud that he was such a good father to her.

A couple of years ago We got stuck in the married rut. Life became routine and boring and I started having an affair. I know there's no excuse for it. I dont want to to go into too many details of the affair It's something I've learned is pretty average and really not that different from any other affair and not at all the romantic fantasy my affair fogged brain thought it was.

A year ago I had the OM over and we were intimate when my daughter came home unexpectedly early and caught me in the act with the om. It was awful. I could see her heart break and she just burst into tears. I tried to ask her not to tell her father to let me tell him but she locked herself into her room and immediatly called her father hysterically crying.

He came home immediatly and he just had no words for me. Just an icy death stair. He immediatly went up to our daughters room and spent the next few hours calming her down while I waited for what I knew was going to be a terrible discussion. It was terrible but not because there was yelling or screaming or questions I didnt want to answer. he was icy cold. I'll never forget his words. "you betrayed me, you lied to me, You cheated on me and you humiliated me. But worst of all you broke our daughters heart and that I will never forgive you for." He didnt want to talk about it. He didnt want to work things out he just wanted me to leave. He filed for divorce a week later.

It's been a year now I have been desperate to try an repair my family and I dont know what to do. He barely talks to me and our daughter. She hates me. She wont answer my calls, she wont return my texts. We separated and if I try and see her she either gives me the silent treatment or just hysterically shrieks about how she hates me and I ruined her life. He is not trying to keep me from her but he isn't very helpful in trying to help me bridge the gap with her. He is still very angry with me. Honestly though it's easier to talk to him then he. He can still be reasonable and talk to me about things we need to take care. The only thing shes said to me the last over the last year are hysterical shouts of how much she hates me. She said she wants to live with her father after the divorce. I've tried to do the things Ive seen recommended in some infidelity sites like offer a timeline of the affair. no trickle truth, take responsibility for the affair try to heal my husband I've taken those steps. A few months ago my husband told me something. He told me one day our daughter told him she hated me and would never forgive me. He told me he didnt want our daughter to grow up harboring such hate and resentment towards me and that he couldn't teach her to forgive me if he couldn't do it. So he would try to forgive me if only to show her what that was. He said I could move back home and I moved back.

Since I have been back things have gotten worse with our daughter. She is angry I am home. She still hates me and is ultra protective of her father. If we sit on the couch next to each other she will force herself in between us and wrap herself around him. If we are alone together she will call out to her dad that she needs him, she wont let us be alone together and is always finding ways to interrupt us or take his attention. There's definitely a feeling that its them agaisnt me. She still wont speak to me beyond the hysterical shrieks of how much she hates me. She once told me I should leave because "Daddy doesn't need you, he has me, I will take your place mom. I dont need you either" I feel so terrible about this. She was never an angry child before this but now she is so filled with hate and loathing towards me.

Has anyone else gone through this? Is there anyway I can repair the damage I have done to them both? Things with my husband are hanging by a thread he acts like he barely tolerates me. He is trying but he is so hurt and angry. Forgiveness does not come easily to him at all.

TLDR Had an affair my pre teen daughter caught me its been a year and she still hates me even though her father is trying to forgive me.

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Fabaunt · 06/01/2019 03:43

Leave them alone, you’re an adult woman and you chose getting laid over your family. Not only that, you asked your child not to tell her father.

I would say they deserve better, but I don’t know the ins and outs of your relationship but if they won’t even speak to you then you need to respect their decision and deal with the consequences of your actions.

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 03:44

I told her to let me tell him. I wasn't going to ask her to keep it a secret from him just to let me do it

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Fabaunt · 06/01/2019 03:46

Also, I just finished reading that. Your child deserves more than to be that unhappy in her own home. Move out. Speak to your ex about having your daughter attend councelling, to talk about what she saw and the destruction of her family and the hurt she watched her dad go through.

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Fabaunt · 06/01/2019 03:47

Why should she? Why would you even ask her that after she walked in on you getting laid in her fathers house? You had no right to ask that of her

HollyBollyBooBoo · 06/01/2019 03:48

How horrific for her. Your daughter really needs some counselling to help process this.

Isth · 06/01/2019 03:51

You sound completely self absorbed and blind to how much this has hurt your daughter.
Stop calling her hysterical. You cannot force her to forgive you, as a pp says, you made the decision to put getting fucked over your family, and in her home, no less.
You and your husband are being shortsighted in moving back in together, that’s helping no one. You all need some space, them to heal and you to do some sorely needed reflection... it’s not all about you.

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 03:56

I know how much its hurt her. I've realized I didn't just betray him I betrayed her too. And to her the betrayal is every bit as real and hurtful as it was to my husband. I'm trying to be a better wife and mother. We were separated for a year.

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JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth · 06/01/2019 04:11

Wow. Walking in on your mum being intimate with another man in your home. That really is too much. My husband had an affair in the marital home and everything seemed soiled after that. I feel terrible for them. You can't force this, it takes time to rebuild trust and relationships. your daughter is in desperate need of professional counselling. You should live elsewhere and take things slowly. Your presence is antagonizing your daughter

sofato5miles · 06/01/2019 04:21

OP. My father had numerous affairs while I was a teenager and my mother left him. At the time, with the absolute clarity of youth I felt she needed protecting from him and I pretty much ditched my relationship with him. However, 30 years on. Things have mellowed entirely. I am bizarrely much closer to my father than my mother and, now that I have been married myself and know my peers' marriages I am much, much less black and white.

Keep the door of communication open. Get her into counselling and let time pass. I wonder if your husband let's her control this as he can let her punish you as he can't.

Personally, I would move out. The family situation is not working at the moment.

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 04:29

The worst thing about this is that my husband is a good man. He didnt deserve this from me. Our marriage wasn't perfect but he did his best. He was faithful, never violent, always responsible. I don't think he would intentionally use our child as a weapon agaisnt me. He loves her more then anything and he honestly thought it was best for her to have her mother and not grow up with hate and resentment towards me in her heart. He is having a hard time with all this. He is trying but I can see the anger and resentment just under his mask of calm.

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snitzelvoncrumb · 06/01/2019 04:43

I agree with moving out, you need to rebuild your relationships slowly. Find a councillor who can talk to your daughter, and when she is ready talk as a family and help her find a relationship she is comfortable with.
You need to take this slowly, and hopefully as your husband sounds like a good man he will help you with your daughter. You should speak to someone too, you need to make peace with the fact you may not have a close relationship with your child.

Fabaunt · 06/01/2019 04:43

This isn’t your husbands fault, or your daughters. It was your inability to keep your knickers on. Your daughter clearly can’t cope with you back in her home, but you don’t care about that. You just want everything the way you want it. Go back to the OM and leave your daughter and ex to move on and heal. Maybe in time she will forgive you.

sofato5miles · 06/01/2019 04:48

You can't change the past. You can only deal with what you have now. Are you having vounsell8ng yourself. Or joint with your husband. Your daughter will take her lead from him, if he us forgiving you, eventually. You will be in each other's lives for many, many years and this will not be fixed short term.

It is a devastating fuck up and you know that. That cannot be changed. However, you are doing your very best now. I do wish you all the very best and hope you can all navigate your way out.

MrsTerryPratcett · 06/01/2019 04:55

And to her the betrayal is every bit as real and hurtful as it was to my husband.

Much worse actually. Parental love is unconditional and unique, you only get one mother. He can remarry and that love certainly is conditional.

Move out. Give her space. He can model forgiveness without being with you.

Surfingtheweb · 06/01/2019 04:56

Sounds like an awful situation :(
It sounds like you & your husband could do with speaking on your own about what is happening now, you've got back together to rebuild your family & it's not working, so what do you do that works? Maybe that's something you can come up with together? It does sound like you all need counselling as individuals & hopefully that will lead to you being able to have some together as a family. I hope you find a way to all be happy.

helterskelter3 · 06/01/2019 05:32

Maybe investigate family counselling. She maybe needs to see you and your husband working through your feelings, to help her to learn how to process her own. Just throwing the three of you into a house together isn’t going to solve this problem unfortunately. I hope things improve for you OP, it must be very difficult.

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 05:40

"This isn’t your husbands fault, or your daughters. It was your inability to keep your knickers on. Your daughter clearly can’t cope with you back in her home, but you don’t care about that. You just want everything the way you want it. Go back to the OM and leave your daughter and ex to move on and heal. Maybe in time she will forgive you."

I know its not their fault. I know they didnt deserve any of this. I know I made a terrible selfish choice that broke them both. I went no contact with the OM after DDay and never want to see him again. I do care about them both. They are the most important people in the world to me and they are in tremendous pain that I caused and I am broken by it. I did this to them. And I cant fix it. I wanted to go home to fix it. To help them heal to be the wife he deserves and the mom she deserves.

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comeasyouare1 · 06/01/2019 05:54

Oh dear, it's not great but also there's no need for a verbal bashing. What's happened has happened and you're clearly being harder on yourself than anyone else can. It may be time for you all to get some space to heal then you can move forward? At the moment there's lots of hurt and pain for everyone, including you.

Fabaunt · 06/01/2019 05:56

But you can’t be that person right now, because you have broken both of them. You have 2 issues. You broke both their hearts but also made them fiercely protective of each other. You being home right now isn’t working. You need to help her heal. This isn’t something you can put a bandaid on and move past. You need to come to terms with the fact neither of them may ever want anything to do with you again. It is certainly the case now. Do you really want your daughter living in such an unhappy home? She needs to talk to a therapist. When she hurts less she may be less angry but until then you need to leave her alone. As for your husband, doesn’t he deserve to be in a relationship he’s happy in with someone who loves and respects him instead of trying to pretend that he’s forgiven you so your child hates you less? He didn’t cause any of this so why are you ok with him paying the price?

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 07:51

Unfortunately my husband is paying the price whether or not I am there. I was hoping to help him carry the burden I gave him. I've been in IC trying to figure out my whys. Trying to figure out why I was so broken I thought it was ok to cheat and how to become a safe partner for my husband if he will ever have me back. My husband did take our daughter to a counselor but she was uncooperative. I did give them space and time. I moved out for a year but I will speak to my husband to see if he thinks its best for me to move out again. I dont want him to think I am giving up on them though. I am not giving up on them.

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JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth · 06/01/2019 12:48

Op do you have any real life support? How was this received by your family and your in-laws? Just seems like you're flogging a dead horse with trying to get this marriage back, in order to assuage your guilt. Has your husband shown any sign that he wants this marriage back?

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 13:42

"Op do you have any real life support? How was this received by your family and your in-laws? Just seems like you're flogging a dead horse with trying to get this marriage back, in order to assuage your guilt. Has your husband shown any sign that he wants this marriage back?"

Not really. My parents are ashamed of me. My best friend was cheated on her by her husband and she is disgusted with me and has been my husbands support since this all happened. My Husband isnt very close with his parents. He is closest with his sister and she is on his side of course. I wouldn't expect anything else from her. He and his brother have been fighting since Trump was elected. My husband hates Trump and his brother voted for him and they havent been getting along since. He barely speaks to him anymore. Same with his father. None of them live close.

I dont think he knows what he wants. He drew up the divorce papers but hasn't gone through with it yet. He told me he missed "Who he thought I was" He said if this doesn't work he wont bother finding anyone else although... I think my "friend" might be trying to snatch him up.

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sprouts21 · 06/01/2019 13:58

You've described your daughter as hysterical 4 times and referred to her being upset as shrieking. That's really off.

Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 13:59

its not an insult I was just trying to describe how emotional and upset she was.

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Brokenmom · 06/01/2019 14:05

I dont know how else to describe it. She was crying and screaming at the top of her voice. It was awful seeing her so upset. Heart wrenching to see her wracked with sobs and so filled with anguish. It broke my heart. I've never seen her so upset before. Now its a regular occurrence whenever she is near me :(

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