Hi Muttgirl, you've been on Curezone for many years now, goodness longer than me! You've done so many good things for your body and mind that I have seen you post about over time. I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through a difficult situation now.
You ask; how should you handle this? You don't handle it honey, you face it and let him go. COMPLETELY!
Should you be friends? You aren't friends now. Good friends don't play games and say things like "you deserve better". Of course you do, but he doesn't mean it, he's just trying to get off the hook easy and avoid the discomfort of you feeling angry, upset and cheated. That's not a friend. Sometimes after a breakup, some people do maintain a friendship, but that usually works out on its own eventually. You don't plan for it and you can't have a friendship where basic trust has been violated.
You believe he will realize his mistake? Whether he actually ever does or not, you would be self sabotaging if you hang around waiting to see how he's going to respond to his choice in the future. Forget what the other woman is like, what she's doing and...forget what's good for her child. That's her job, you are the baby that needs comfort and good examples right now and only YOU can give that to you!
Please, please sweetheart, honor and esteem yourself a little more and realize that anyone who goes off like this has never given you your proper place in his life and never will.
What do you do? You face your situation, fill your life with good important things and move on!!!!!!
Hard?: YES! Impossible?: NO! Absolutely necessary?: YES!!!!!!
Well, it might be like that for you if you are the one doing the cheating, but for the woman involved, and I strongly suspect you are a man, it doesn't always have such an inconsequential effect. Geeez!
Disrespectful? You mean like yawning when someone's speaking? I also disagree with your assessment of "low level violation of trust". I might call using someone else's toothbrush a low level violation of trust, but not one's partner using someone else.
I do somewhat agree with you; 'once a cheater, most likely always a cheater".
Looking back at your post, I feel a sneeze coming on.........aaaahch....!
LOL
I also hope I was the only person who misunderstood your post. Yes, I interpreted low level as meaning of low importance, as opposed to low behavior.
Indeed, time does make even our worst experiences fade, unless for some reason a person develops a long lasting trauma. People have different ways of reacting to the same situations, but for the most part, with time we heal.
Thank you for taking the time to clarify your good points. :-)