Names for My Ex
Yes, we know the default is to call the Ex, the ex-husband (and many of us have had times when we used other names, to be sure). Nothing’s wrong with Ex; it gets the job done. But lately I’ve been thinking about other possible names for my Ex, or ways to refer to him. Is there something a little “friendlier”?
Some options: my former spouse, the father of my children, my co-parent, my (insert kids’ name) dad… I’ve been trying some of these out to see how they sound.
I kept my married name when I divorced for career reasons. Sometimes it does get confusing at the kids’ school or in other situations. New people think we are married, or they may not be not sure. I used to make it really clear by taking a couple of sentences to explain our situation (which is so common anyway). Then I finally realized it’s just me talking too much, and no one seems to care. Now I just embrace the fact that everyone doesn’t need to know that we are not married anymore. It either gets woven into conversation at some point, or it doesn’t, and we just all move on. Today I’m going with “my former spouse,” and I’m still thinking of other names for my Ex that work for me. What do you think?