SICK OF DAD’S FLAUNTY NEW LOVE

Dear Coleen

My dad left my mum after 27 years of marriage for another woman who is younger. I think this new girlfriend controls his every move because she doesn’t trust him one little bit. Probably because she’s seen him lie to me, my mother, my brother and even to his own parents. She constantly posts photos of them together on her social media accounts. And whenever we see them out she always hugs and kisses him in front of us, and it just comes across as really unconvincing and fake. She’s been with him for almost a year and a half now, so why does she still feel the need to do this?

Coleen says

You’re right, she probably does feel insecure given your dad’s track record. He left his family for her, so couldn’t he do the same to her? She probably also feels an element of guilt over the affair and might be acting like this to prove to everyone it was right for them to get together. All the hugging and kissing is saying, “look at us, we’re madly in love!” She’s trying to justify their affair. It doesn’t mean you can’t have a word with your dad. Tell him you accept he’s with someone else now, but it’s still hard to see their displays of affection all over social media. I think he needs to be a little sensitive to the fact that them being together will still hurt a lot of people. If you do that, he might ask her to rein it in. I don’t think she’s necessarily trying to rub your faces in it, but that’s probably how it comes across.