On Saturday I actually left the house with a girlfriend and went to a nearby outlet mall for a tiny bit of baby shopping. I think I have to admit that previous to this trip far I had purchased one (1) outfit for Egg and nothing else. I’m 8 months along. I think I have issues. But more on that later! (la la la denial!!)I had an interesting text conversation with Chicken while shopping, the beginning of which read like this:
Chicken: Holy Fuck!
Sam: eh?
Chicken: My dad is a dick!
Sam: …
As it turns out, Chicken was told by one of his step-sisters (she’s 12ish) that his father had an affair over the summer. His wife found out via phone records and the affair was with a co-worker in an area several hours away. I didn’t get all the details because the whole conversation was through texting and I was too shocked and appalled to figure out if I should call him. I haven’t talked to him today, but I will tomorrow. One of the things that is banging around in my head is this: Is it appropriate to tell the children when one of the parents cheats on the other? And not just telling them that there was adultery, but the who and the how and whatever else the kids know? That bothers me a bit, and how does this effect the way the children feel about their father/step-father since the marriage is still intact? And please do not tell me that the 4 year old knows. I would vomit.
The other thing that chaps my hide is that Chicken was supposed to visit his dad over the summer but his dad couldn’t get his “schedule” together in a way that would allow Chicken to visit. Was his scheduling difficulty due to the fact that he was fucking someone other than his wife? Because that really sucks ass. Of course I won’t discuss this part with Chicken. He doesn’t need to have that shit in his head. But he also probably doesn’t need to know about his dad’s affair last summer. So tell me, what would you do? What is appropriate here?
Find Me