Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck returned from the Hamptons to LA midway through last week which is where they were this weekend, for a lot of family time. JLo was seen touring a school with her son Max the other day in a turtleneck and jeans which I and probably the Fug Girls might be confused about because what is this fashion and what is the temperature?! Bennifer was then photographed arm in arm at the Brentwood Country Mart, where Ben and Emme finally got to hit up a bookstore. And also Ben, just Ben, was with his kids, Seraphina and Sam, and Emme, but no JLo, at Universal City Walk which means, well, again, integration, if he’s with her daughter and his kids and she doesn’t have to be there. Last week when I wrote about integration I got yelled at by some people because I think (?) they were mad at me suggesting that Ben’s kids have been around JLo and her family? It’s really not clear to me and my only takeaway was that they didn’t believe that Ben’s kids have been spending time with JLo the way JLo’s kids have been spending time with him. I mean, at this point, I think it’s pretty obvious that the integration is happening …and that internally, presumably, there are no obstacles. The biggest obstacle between them last time was the outside pressure, his inability to deal with the attention, their combined fame. After all these years, Ben probably has a different perspective about all of that and where Jennifer Garner is concerned, and of course having to manage these situations respectfully in a co-parenting situation, from this vantage point, seeing them all together like this, it may not be a thing for her either.
At a certain point, from what I’ve observed with couples who have divorced and who have kids, once you let go of those emotions, move past what you had with your ex into a new relationship, you almost welcome another person in your ex’s life. Because then you don’t have to be the only one dealing with issues if they come up. Not that we can ever know if that applies to Bennifer’s situation but if they’re already at a point where everyone is stepping out together and doing group outings, given how famous all of them are and how they must be aware of what’s out there and what people are saying, is it a sign that it’s all good behind the scenes?
