This is my first post, but I've been "lurking" and reading other people's posts for months now. Even though people's posts/responses weren't about my own situation, I still found them helpful and informative and I'm grateful this site exists!
I'm posting now because I am having a difficult time with an upcoming decision, and I need to find out if I am "unusual" in my response (i.e. am I over-reacting?) or whether how I'm feeling/reacting is normal for other people suffering from infidelity.
I guess I should give you some background. My D-Day was July 7, 2012. My husband and I are reconciling and he says he's 100% committed to me and making our marriage work. We've been together for 22 years and married for 15 and a half years, and we have three kids. I was completely blindsided by my husband's emotional affair with his co-worker. I had thought we had a wonderful marriage--full of openness, honesty, caring, passion, great sex, similar goals and visions, laughter.... we rarely fought. I say the affair was emotional, but it had started to get a bit physical and was escalating when I "sensed" something and told him he should stop seeing her to safeguard our marriage. Of course, when I told him to stop seeing her I thought they were "just friends" but it had occurred to me they "could" get attached, not realizing it had already happened. By the time I told him to stop seeing her he had already told her he was falling in love with her, he had told her she was his best friend, he was keeping me in the dark about how much time they were spending together, and, most painful to me, they had taken trips together (including a trip to Europe--my husband and I have never been to Europe together) where they had flirted and started to get physical, spending evenings in each other's hotel rooms and drinking wine. He told me that they only cuddled on the bed and held hands, and, I realize this may sound naive, but I do believe him. (I should clarify that I had known about the "work" trips they were taking together, but I didn't know that they actually had feelings for each other or they had been acting inappropriately.)
Anyway, the OW has been on a leave of absence for the past year, studying abroad, and they have been NC (though I had to write the NC email because his NC email was a *!@$@$ love letter). However, she is coming back to work this September. My husband has switched jobs, so he won't be working with her any longer, but here is my dilemma... she is my children's teacher. (My husband is also a teacher). It's a small school, so it's practically impossible for them to avoid having her as I teacher. I have known her for 4+ years and I previously admired her as a teacher, but now it feels like poison to have her "teach" my kids. I wrote her a letter last summer to tell her how betrayed I felt, and she basically responded by telling me she had done nothing wrong (though she was flirting/encouraging him as well) and that I was over-reacting. She also told me that while she didn't care to be a "catalyst" for my marriage's recovery, that's essentially what she was/is (am I supposed to be thankful for her flirtation?). She never once apologized for her inappropriate actions, or causing me (and potentially, my kids, by perhaps being part of the break up of our family unit) such distress. While my husband was the instigator is most of their interactions, she encouraged his attentions and did not stop them or pull away. And my husband is very, very remorseful and knows what he did was wrong.
Now, am I over-reacting for feeling like I don't want her teaching my kids? In my email letter to her (when I told her how betrayed I felt) I had said that if she felt any remorse for her actions she could avoid teaching my children in the future, and her reply was that she would not be guilt-tripped and if I didn't want my kids to be taught by her I should do what I saw fit. I want my kids to avoid her at all cost, but our son, who is graduating next year, doesn't want to switch schools. I think he can avoid having her as a teacher as she doesn't usually teach senior subjects, but it means he will have to drop music (he knows about the situation, so he has agreed to do this). But we're trying to keep our two younger daughters unaware of my husband's dalliance and my middle daughter may not be able to avoid her. Am I putting myself above the well-being of my kids if I make my daughter switch schools to avoid having the OW as a teacher (if she doesn't want to switch schools)? Am I being unfair and unreasonable, or would you, if you were in my situation, feel similarly? I just don't know if I am reacting to the uncaring/unapologetic email she sent me and it's my pride/vanity at work here, or if I am right to think this is a potentially noxious situation. My husband thinks that it's "no big deal" if she remains our kids' teacher. That it just means that it's her signature on their report cards twice a year. But for me, it's trusting someone who shows no remorse for her unprofessional and thoughtless actions with the greatest treasures in my life. Am I over-reacting and being selfish? Please be honest with me. I need perspective. Thank you.