My husband and I divorced when my son was five. School was hard. He was bullied daily. Scratch that. Hourly! Every day, I was met with a child who had been sent to the principals office, told he was a bad kid, and at some point, had a massive meltdown which usually included soiling his pants.

Gut-wrenching sobs were an everyday occurrence, along with screaming, yelling and hitting. The tantrums were rough. He was lashing out in general because of very specific problems at school.  My son is special. 180 IQ, ADD, Aspergers. He’s one of the most brilliant awesome kids you will ever meet. And charming. But at that time, he was going through a lot. And the bullying at school was the worst.

It’s hard as a public figure to know what to share, what not to share, and when to share it. I couldn’t post about the horror everyday. My brand is happy, positive, solution-oriented. While he was in public school, I had to focus on the few happy parts. It was only after starting homeschool that I could address what had been a very painful time. Only after I’d found a solution and was relishing in the happy joyous child that laughed all the time now. That balance – of keeping things private, going through personal challenges while keeping your business going, or simply getting a divorce quietly, without drama to the point that nobody knew you were divorced – that takes planning. Double that if you’re trying to protect your kiddo at the same time.  In the old days you could simply keep it to yourself. Not so in our ever more connected world. That’s #dotcomplicated.

What’s your Dot Complicated story? Email us at stories@dotcomplicated.co for a chance to be featured on our site!

Posted on 11/6/2013

Written by Adryenn Ashley

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