Single Parents UNITE!

Rach I'm good thanks.  Things just seem to tick along here really.  When I don't have the kids I have been trying to finish painting the lounge - probably the longest it's taken anyone to paint anything!!

Codysmum - brilliant that you will be all set up for the baby.  I think from memory you can earn up to $80 per week on the DPB (but I can't remember whether that is before tax or after).  I was always going to go back to work and also get child support so don't get thye DBP but in Wgtn things would be pretty tight too.

found out today my daughters fathers GirlFriend (or should i say "fiance") is pregnant , he told me they had been trying to get pregnant for a year ( Amelia has just turned one 3 weeks ago ) , his GF is only 18 or 19 , i feel sorry for her , at least i got to live , party , and travel the world before i got pregnant to an ar**hole. he started asking me all these questions about midwives and how much newborns cost , the cheek of him!!!!!! he has never ever paid one sent towards Amelia or offerd child support , he wouldnt even sign her birth cert and didnt even contact me on her 1st birthday or get her a present or anything yet he still aknowleges hes her father , kept going on about how the abby better be a boy ( he did the same thing when i was pregnant )

. sorry for my rant , just needed to get it off my chest and thought you guys would prob understand my anger at this situation . I thankgod for my patrner , he really is a million times the man my ex is , he has a child from a previous relationship and he pays so much child support and sees her all the time , to me that shows what a mans really like (how he treats his children )

Ricker - it doesnt sound like your in a very nice situation , hope it gets better

Oh Julz that's tough!  I don't really know what else to say 'cause it's just so crappy that a Dad can seem to care so little about one child and not another.  My children's father dotes on one of ours and although he says all the right things, (and would deny black and blue that this was the case!) doesn't appear to really care about the other a great deal.  It makes me so sad for her because I know what it's like to grow up believing that your Dad doesn't / didn't want you.  It sounds like you have a great partner and if he's as wonderful to your daughter then she is a lucky girl in the end.  It's her biological Dad that will be the loser.

Trudz isn't it weird that on the one hand they show absolutely no interest and then on the other seem to think they have the right to make decisions!  Will never cease to amaze me.

Ricker - are you okay?  Have you managed to sort anything that makes you feel more secure?

Personally I would say that if he wants to see him (but doesn't think that contact in the next year is important) then he should be the one making the effort to come to you.  You have enough to deal with without that kind of a drive.  I think the other thing to consider is how Cody will feel.  Is he likely to be excited at his little journey (and excited by seeing Daddy and family), or not cope so well because it is a different environment and out of his routine?  If my DS hadn't seen Daddy for a while and we did that he would be quite upset by it - particularly as it's outside of his normal day to day environment.   If exdp feels his son is important to him then he should make the effort (and I would have thought would want to make that effort more than once in the next year).  Sorry - I hope that's not too opinionated!  Just ignore me if it is!  I think I just feel that it is constantly women who make the effort and go the extra mile (I know that's a terrible generalisation but in this case you will be making a lot of effort if you end up driving halfway twice over a few days).