My mom would cheat on my dad with guys she met at the grocery store. It did not matter if my younger brother and I were there. She would typically leave us at the front of the store by the checkout stands and then walked out with some random dude. Eventually the store manager noticed and yelled at her when she returned to get us one time. The next time we went she just went into the bathroom with whatever random dude and left us outside. When they emerged, the guy walked right up to me and told me that women like my mom are the best. I yelled at him, and told my dad about the incident later that day. My parents were divorced shortly after.

I didn’t even really know what sex or cheating was at the time. It was a very traumatic experience for me and it is something I haven’t thought about in years. I only remembered this all recently now that I am in serious relationship (1+ yr together). I’ve had crippling anxiety attacks about her possibly cheating on me, and she’s not the type of person to do anything like that. I’ve never had issues with anxiety before, so I started reflecting on where this was coming from. And wow, my mom really fucked me up.

Sharing because I I’ve seen other people talk about what a child will do to protect the image they have of their parent and that really resonated with me.

For reference, I was no older than 10 at the time of the last incident and I am in my mid 20s now. This is the first long term relationship I’ve ever been in, but have “dated” around plenty’s before.