There’s a pain not many people talk about—
Watching your child light up for someone who once dimmed your entire soul.
They laugh with them.
Hug them.
Draw pictures for them.
And you smile. You nod. You support the relationship because you know—deep down—your child deserves love from both parents.
But inside?
It hurts.
Because you remember the manipulation.
The gaslighting.
The tears you cried behind closed doors.
The way you used to shrink yourself to survive in a love that was never safe.
And now that person—
The one who tore you apart in quiet, calculated ways—
gets to be the “fun parent,”
the highlight reel,
the weekend hero.
You don’t want to poison your child’s view.
You don’t want to project your pain.
So you carry it.
Quietly.
Gracefully.
Alone.
And still—you show up.
You show up to parent-teacher conferences, to exchanges, to birthdays, to moments that require more emotional strength than anyone sees.
Because you know love isn’t proven by being loud.
It’s proven by staying steady.
And even when it breaks your heart,
you choose your child’s peace over your own pride.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
It means you’re doing something most people couldn’t.
You are healing in real time—
While sitting across from the person who once broke you,
And choosing, every single day, to not let that brokenness touch your child.
And that, mama, is power.
GreatCosmicMothersUnite 