Elizabeth Edwards Creates an Image of John for Their Children

September 19, 2008

Fighting stage four breast cancer, Elizabeth Edwards made her first public appearance since the truth about her husband's affair hit mainstream news. Concerning the father of her children, the mother of three — Cate, 26, Emma Claire, 10, and Jack, 8 — made a powerful statement. She said:

Edwards added that she hopes her children will have an image of their father as "an advocate for poverty, not for this current picture of him, to be the one they carry with them ... I need to create the picture for them that I want them to have."

Do you paint a picture of your co-parent? Or do you allow your offspring to see your partner for who they are?
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6 Comments

perfectesque 4 years 34 weeks

No. he makes his own bed. I'm not a maid.

pinkprincess1101 4 years 34 weeks

my motto as i learned from my mother is the children will get older and see the truth why poison them (unless they are bad criminals and will only cause harm to a child then keep them away), my father was a piece of shit literally my mom not one time said a negative thing about him growing up and he was and still is not in our lives, but as we were getting older we saw the truth, so definitely would never say one negative thing, like when my daughters father skips a weekend she asks what happened i know the truth that he was not ready to be a father so his bond is not that strong, but i sugarcoat it

DesignRchic 4 years 34 weeks

Those kids will know who their real daddy is someday. :oy: I've lost all respect for that man.

Greggie 4 years 34 weeks

I agree with milosmommy. If I felt my husband had truly simply made a mistake (which probably would not be the case if it was the same scenario as the Edwards, but if we're talking bad images in general), I'd absolutely play up the good and somewhat gloss over the bad. However, I'd also want the mistake (and mine as well when I make them) to be clear to the children so they understand how we learn from them. I just don't think mistakes should be the ongoing focus in most cases.

lickety split 4 years 34 weeks

this poor woman. she's married to an asshole, i don't know that she has mcuh choice. if i were her i would do the same thing, but thankfully i'm not. my kids are free to see their father as he is and that's a wonderful thing.

milosmommy 4 years 34 weeks

I think it depends on how old the children and their maturity level/level of understanding. By all means I would want my child to love his father, but if he was not a nice person (hypothetically) at some point the rose colored glasses need to come off.

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