“I Have a Love-Hate Relationship with My Cheating Parent!”

The Parents who cheat book is just fabulous and I wanted to share with you a sampling. I will post more like this soon.

I do not like what he did, but I still love him. It is not in his best interest for me to talk about it, and I do not want to lose my father, as bad as he is.
- Andrea, early 20s

My mom told me she didn’t realize that her affair was the basis of my anger towards her. I told her, ‘I didn’t know either, but now that it’s all coming out, I realize it is.’
- Julie, 37 (recalling an affair her mother had when Julie was 15)

My dad told me [his sleeping with another woman] was none of my business; but the way I saw it, it was my business. I heard them having sex, and even at that age I thought, ‘What an ass!’
- Todd, 33 (reflecting on how he felt as a 12-year-old)

I can't imagine my father walking me down the aisle one day to a man who is supposed to love me forever when he did not do that for my mother or my family. I love him and am angry at him at the same time.
- female survey respondent, 24

" ... Most children of infidelity can’t help but feel anger, sometimes even hatred, toward their unfaithful parent. They wonder how they can still respect or love someone who has not only broken the rules of marriage and lied about it but hurt the other parent and caused the whole family to suffer. A child of any age may believe it’s impossible to feel the way they used to feel about their unfaithful father or mother. Although children are often told that their parents’ marital problems are not their concern, and that nothing has changed between them and their cheating parent, children know better. Their feelings have changed, and very often those feelings are mixed—pulling the child in opposite directions. "