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Should You Stay in an Unhappy Marriage for Your Children?

I thought I should but my children were smarter than me

Colleen Sheehy Orme
3 min readJun 16, 2021
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

One day my eleven-year-old son walked into the kitchen.

His father and I were having a conversation. I honestly can’t remember the topic. My son’s comment replaced its significance.

“Why do you talk to Dad?” he asked. “He can’t hear you. It’s the same conversation over and over again.”

Kids are wise.

They can see beyond the obvious because they live in an uncrowded and unfiltered worldview.

I was in my forties when I began to yell. Prior to that, I raised my voice only occasionally. It’s one of my greatest regrets. It’s an absurd way to get someone’s attention.

I had told my husband I was feeling unhappily married.

He met my words with alcohol which upset our children which made me yell.

It was an escalation.

I had tried talking to him. Reasoning with him. Pleading with him.

My children understood our relationship was deteriorating.

Unfortunately, it was on full display.

Because their father had chosen an outlet for his anger.

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Colleen Sheehy Orme
Colleen Sheehy Orme

Written by Colleen Sheehy Orme

National Relationship Columnist, Journalist & Former Business Columnist. I cover love, life, & relationships— #WomanResurrected colleen.sheehy.orme@gmail.com

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