Celebrity Couples, Relationships|January 26, 2010 6:51 pm

Elin & Tiger Woods: Staying Together for the Kids?



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tigerelinwoods 256x300 Elin & Tiger Woods: Staying Together for the Kids?The latest buzz in the Tiger Woods saga is that his wife, Elin Woods, is planning to stand by her man. Now that the world’s #1 golfer has been in sexual addiction rehab, reports say that Elin is going to try to work it out for the sake of their children.

We can’t begin to imagine how the stress this whole ordeal has affected Mrs. Woods, but we also can’t help but ask — is it really best for a strained couple to stick it out for the kids?

We consulted Dr. Susan Bartell, family psychologist and the author of “Top 50 Questions Kids Ask Elin & Tiger Woods: Staying Together for the Kids?” who tackles this issue with couples often — and ranks whether or not to stay together for the sake of children among the most common issues married couples face.

“When there is fighting, stress, yelling arguing in the house, NO — the kids are not better off when their parents stay together,” she says. “The most important determinant of what makes kids emotionally healthy is not whether their parents stay together, but how they handle the separation or divorce: as long as they put the needs of their children first — and really look out for their best interest, children will not be sacrificed.”

“In fact,” she continues, “Role-modeling an unhappy marriage can be worse for a child.”

So, what do you think? Is it a good idea to try to make a marriage work so that children don’t have a broken home…or if you don’t want to raise children alone? Tell us!

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Author: Lolita Carrico is the founder of the Gloss Network for Women. Lolita has been featured as an expert on hundreds of media outlets like Redbook, Parents, The Washington Post, ABC News and FOX News, discussing topics such as parenting, relationships, career and balancing it all. Follow her on Twitter @lolita
  • Sheila McK

    Not only do I think staying together for the sake of the kids is bad for the kids but I think it also makes the mom look like she doesn’t value herself. Elin has been through the ringer and has a public image to uphold which SUCKS but not only will staying together essentially give Tiger a pass for his insane number of failures as a husband but also makes Elin a horrible role model IMHO. Especially for her daughter who obviously will know about all of this when she’s older.

  • Kelly P

    Staying together JUST for the sake of the kids? Bad idea! The happiest day of my young life: My parents split up. My father was an abusive loser. In Elin’s case? Different… if Tiger can keep his act together she should continue on and enjoy the ride. They may actually have a “real” marriage from now on. I hope she gives him a chance, and I hope he does not disappoint… well… ALL of us.

  • Lou

    Staying together doesn’t necessarily make Elin a horrible role model. Elin thus far has devoted herself to her children and her husband. Through all of this she has conducted herself with CLASS and has remained devoted to her children and her privacy no matter what. Tiger’s behavior has more to do with him being SPOILED and acting like a REBELLIOUS TEENAGER seeing how much he can get away with before getting caught then it does addiction. Perhaps the reality of losing a faithful, CLEAN, SELF RESPECTING wife AS WELL AS HIS CHILDREN will be enough for him to say to himself “HEY ASSHOLE WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???” Only time will tell. To Elin I say KEEP YOUR HEAD UP KIDDO. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT ANY OF US THINK. YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO LIVE WITH YOURSELF AND THE DECISION YOU MAKE WHATEVER IT MAY BE. GOOD LUCK

  • jewel

    BAD MOVE. I have first hand experience with this. My grandmother and grandfather stayed together for the sake of the kids. As a result, my mother had a wretched childhood, growing up with low self-esteem and a lot of anger inside, which vented out on me and my brother. My grandfather was physically abusive; as a result my grandmother was verbally abusive to my mother, and in turn, my mother was verbally abusive towards me. I, too, grew up with a low self-esteem and a lot of self-hatred as a result of what my mother went thru with her mother.
    Being together for the sake of the kids is a BAD MOVE, because the kids will not benefit from this. They will sense the tension, stress and distrust of their parents. And the frustration and anger Elin feels might get transferred to the children. Her best bet is to LEAVE this loser, no matter how rich or famous.
    Besides, I think this “SEX THERAPY” bit is strictly for show and for PR, so Tiger can try to restore his tarnished image.

  • Julie

    I think they should at least give it a try like they are doing. At least they can tell their kids down the road that they tried everything they could to stay together. The person that said if Elin stays, she’ll be a bad role model for her daughter. I don’t believe that; in her eyes, Mommy and Daddy are the greatest people in the world; she’s too young to know what’s going on right now and won’t fully understand what Daddy did to Mommy until she is much older. Divorce is much harder on kids than most people really know. It’s just going to be a day-to-day hard road for Elin and Tiger to make this work but it’s their business if they want to stay together, not ours and we shouldn’t judge. The only thing that worries me are the reports that Tiger didn’t want to go to rehab and was pressured into going by his management team and Elin. No one can make a person want to quit smoking, quit drinking, lose weight, etc. except THAT person so if Tiger isn’t really admitting to himself that he has obsessive addiction problems (people don’t realize that addiction comes in all forms including sex addiction and can ruin families and lives. A friend of mine is a psychologist and she has seen a surge of internet porn addiction in her practice. All they want to do is think about sex, get on the computer and not spend any time with their partners, kids or friends, so this addiction is as real as drug addiction, gambling, etc.

  • SKennedy

    Honey, you better run like your ass is on FIRE. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Where is your self respect, and more-over, where is the respect for yourself????

  • kay davis

    Hell no! Take the money and run girl! Sex addict or not, is that what you want your children to grow up with? And what of yourself? Money isn’t the issue, move on. I wish I had had your privileges when I caught my sex addict with my best friend!

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