Life after an unsuccessful marriage can sometimes be troublesome. Quite often the difficulties are related to the actions of one’s ex-partner. Especially when there are children involved.

Redditor u/Throwaway2119766 opened up about it to the AITA community. His ex-wife bought a dress for their daughter to wear at his upcoming wedding. Unfortunately, the clothing was not appropriate for the occasion, nor to the daughter’s liking. Therefore, dad returned the dress, which ended in a huge fight with the ex and left him wondering if he’s a jerk.

Ending a marriage doesn’t always mean cutting all ties with the ex-partner, which can lead to drama in the future

Image credits: vmiregolda (not the actual photo)

This groom-to-be had to resolve wedding-related problems caused by his ex-wife, who got their daughter involved in it, too

Image credits: SUPITNAN (not the actual photo)

Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Throwaway2119766

It is important to follow the required dress code and certain unwritten rules when it comes to the wedding attire

Image credits: Terje Sollie (not the actual photo)

There are plenty of unwritten rules and interesting customs dictating the dos and don’ts of wedding attire. For instance, red is typically a color that should be avoided, as it might be too attention-grabbing. However, in China, red is a traditional color for a wedding dress. In Norway, for example, it’s not surprising if a bride comes wearing a crown.

When it comes to clothing on such occasions, the requests of the happy couple should always be taken into consideration. They spend long hours planning the celebration and usually have an image in mind of how they want everything to look, including the style of their guests. A specific dress code can actually benefit the invitees—it narrows down the options when choosing what to wear becomes a headache.

Children are often the reason ex-partners stay in touch after the divorce

Image credits: RODNAE Productions (not the actual photo)

Even though the divorce rate went down in the last decades, quite a few marriages are not able to stand the test of time. According to Gitnux, there’s one ending every 42 seconds in the US alone. However, as the OP’s case shows, that doesn’t mean that all ties are cut between the former partners. Children are often one of the reasons why.

It’s because of their daughter, the dress she received, to be more exact, that the father had to have contact with his ex-wife. He thought the piece of clothing the woman chose was not right for the occasion and believed she did that on purpose. Usually it’s inappropriate to wear white to a wedding, unless you’re the blushing bride.

Feeling animosity towards your ex or their new partner can negatively affect your mental and physical health as well as the well-being of the children

Image credits: Zhivko Minkov (not the actual photo)

For whatever reason, the OP’s ex-wife decided to go with white for her daughter’s dress. Likely because, according to the groom-to-be, she wasn’t very fond of his new girlfriend. Feeling animosity towards the new romantic interest of your ex-partner is not unusual. Each person has their own reason why, but it can be related to the realization that they’re moving on.

According to the author and clinical psychologist Ann Gold Buscho, seeing them continue their lives with someone else, especially if you feel stuck, can lead to disliking the ex-partner themselves. “You think you may never move on. You can’t stop thinking about the divorce. It’s become an obsession that you can’t let go. It is interfering with your work, you can’t sleep, and you’re watching a lot of TV while you eat junk food. All you think about is negative, you can hardly remember anything good about your ex anymore,” she wrote in Psychology Today.

However, hatred towards your ex or their new partner rarely leads to anything positive. Ann Gold Buscho pointed out that it can negatively affect your mental and physical health, as well as your co-parenting abilities. It is essential to remember that children also suffer the consequences of the divorce, and it’s important not to make it worse than it has to be.

“Your children need you to be relaxed and calm when they talk about their other parent. If you try to win them to your side, you risk damaging your long-term relationship with them. It is not healthy for kids to be put in the middle of your adult conflict,” Ann Gold Buscho emphasized.

The OP provided more information by answering some of the comments

Community members had loads to say on the topic, most of them agreed the OP was not a jerk

Some people, on the other hand, thought that everybody in the story can be considered jerks

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