Hi Corey!
Man it is such a hard journey to have to go on with young children involved. My husband of 10 years came out as gay in December last year and it has been a tough year navigating shared custody of our three young children. I am confident that in the future (possibly years away) we will be able to be friends again, but until then we remain friendly. And I think that will bridge the gap between being husband and wife and rediscovering a friendship in years to come. I’m not ready to be his friend yet, but I see the value in being friendly and keeping up a civil relationship until we get there. For me, it’s all about the kids. I don’t want them to have parents that can’t stand each other because the only people that really affects is the kids. And they didn’t choose this life either. I constantly check in with myself to make sure I’m recognising my own needs in our current relationship and not putting myself last as I so often did during our marriage. Im learning to be my own advocate and to know that actually, I matter.
So in summary, I think we have the opportunity to pave our own way forward with our exes, plenty of people won’t understand how/why we do it the way that we do it, but I think as long as you are checking in on yourself and constantly evaluating how it is making YOU feel (any act of friendship with her), you will find a new way of being a family with her and your boys.
When I told my therapist about going to various things with my ex and our kids, she was amazed at how I could do that within the first year especially after such a massive betrayal, but she said that as long as I continue to check in on myself and how I feel about it, valuing my own feelings as well as those of my kids, and she knows I can still see his “assholeness” for what it is, that we will find our own way forward as a family.
You can hear the first part of my journey on the Our voices podcast - I am Bridget Walker, and I find it so interesting to listen back to now as so much has changed in the 6 months since then, but I know that those feelings were true and valid and helped shape my journey from there.
Best of luck finding a new way forward with your family!