New Poll: Were your stepkids involved in your wedding (or will they be)?

New Poll: Were your stepkids involved in your wedding (or will they be)?

The new stepfamily poll has been posted on your right.

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Poll Results: Regardless of what the ex thinks, do you have a good relationship with your child/stepchild's school

POLL RESULTS: Regardless of what the ex thinks, do you have a good relationship with your child/stepchild's school?

RESULTS:

• YES: 37%
• NO: 25%
• DEPENDS ON THE SCHOOL YEAR: 37%

We had good relationships with the school during the pre-school and elementary school years. Junior high has been hit or miss, depending on the teacher and school year. It also depends on the child. One child has problems in school (actually, he has a problem with his mother who doesn't make him do his homework or study) and the other is an "A" student.

Stay tuned for the next poll soon!

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It's Been Long Enough...

It's been long enough. Apparently the kids couldn't be bothered to do anything for their dad for Father's Day. It doesn't take money so that can't be an excuse. It can be a note or hand-made card. It can be an ecard. Heck, a phone call would have been nice!

I have no time for crap like that. The gifts that are here for them will sit until hubby packs them up to mail them (or I give them to our own kids who love their daddy and appreciate him). I'm not doing jack for them anymore. Been there, done that (for years). I know some will say "but you're the adult." Why, yes I am. I am the adult who did everything I could for these kids for a decade, who got knifed in the back (it was a heart shot too), and who knows not to be a doormat for two kids old enough to know better. My children appreciate what they have and what we give them or they don't get it. The stepkids don't get to live by different rules because their dad and mom aren't married.

It's not the first year they've done this so no surprise there.

It's hard to remember how close we once were compared to now. The ex got her way. I hope she's proud of herself.

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How not to spend a Thursday night

What I did tonight...it involves mud, dog poop, and bare feet!

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Child Support Accountability

We have medical bills starting to pile up. We have a $3,000 health fund through my husband's employer. It's what they offer whether you have two people in your family or eight (like us). My thyroid ultrasound and biopsy destroyed the health fund so the medical bills that have been hitting after those are our out-of-pocket costs. I'm wondering if I should be getting insurance quotes for some type of supplemental policy.

My car is in getting repaired right now and my husband's goes in tomorrow once we get mine back (his brakes are grinding like you wouldn't believe). Our propane tank is also due to be filled which is a big expense. No hot water without it. We can't get ahead.

When I think about all the child support that gets wasted on them eating out all the time while our bills pile up, it makes me feel a bit ill. Add into the fact that we rarely see the stepkids because they won't leave their mother alone, she gets both the kids and tax-free money. Lucky her! I sure wish we had some control over how support was spent - some accountability!

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What Stepmothers Can't Say

For all the things we do for children that aren't ours - chauffeuring, cooking, cleaning, bathing, laundering, etc. (really, the list is neverending)...we deserve a crown. When you add an ex who refuses to co-parent, or even be civil unless it makes her look good into the mix, I think I want Diamond necklaces too!

Seriously though, I found this article printed online at CNN of an article that appeared in Oprah's O Magazine about things you should never say as a stepmother. One point in it says not to say this:

• #10 "What's the matter, never heard of thank you?"
  Don't become a stepparent expecting gratitude. (Don't become a parent expecting it, either.) While you shouldn't tolerate rudeness, choose your battles carefully. Kids generally don't have the best manners; they get preoccupied and forego social niceties. Don't be petulant; you're the grown-up.

I don't think it's about wanting gratitude. I think it's about expecting respect. I expect it of any child who comes into my home whether it is my own child, my children's friends, or my stepchildren. My stepkids don't get a free pass on manners because their parents divorced. I may not say it in exactly that same way but the point would be made.

If you don't have expectations for children, why should they have expectations for themselves?

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Stepkids can't be bothered

Well, it's now been two mail days since Father's Day and still nothing from the stepkids. How long does it take to write a short note wishing him a Happy Father's Day and put it in the mail? It's pretty safe to say they decided not to go out of their way to do a thing for their father. The ex should be so proud on how well she's taught them.

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The Sound of a Fire in a Candle

You are lying back on the couch with your eyes closed, a glass of wine in hand, soft and relaxing music in the background while listening to the sounds of a crackling fire. It's so soothing. What a great way to end the day, letting all of the day's worries just slip away.

Now open your eyes! It is not a real fire; it's a Wood Wick Candle!

Did you know there are candles with a natural wick made of wood and that as it burns, it actually sounds like a crackling fire? I want to try these!

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Fashion Diva vs. Responsibility

My daughter's dog has chewed up two pairs of sandals in the last week alone. We bought her sparkly sandals and the dog ate one. We went and bought her another pair of them because they were so cute. The dog ate one of those as well. They must have tasted really good!

I enjoy shopping for childrens clothing as much as most moms, but I don't enjoy buying the same thing repeatedly! Lesson learned (for mom and dad and hopefully my youngest as well). Even at four years old, she has to have some responsibility for making sure her shoes are put away where they belong so the dog can't eat them. I won't replace them again. I don't want her growing up to be like Christina Ricci with more shoes than books and thinking that's OK. Being the bookworm that I am, I'm going to have to teach her to find a happy middle ground. She can still be the little fashion diva she loves being, but she has to have a good respect for reading too.

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Test from phone

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Stepkids acknowledge their dad for Father's Day?

I was wondering how my stepkids would handle Father's Day for their dad. Not a card or a phone call from either. My stepdaughter sent her dad a text message (so personal of her eh?) and not a word (or text) from my stepson. Nice of her to take ten seconds out of her day for her father. Sad to say that I am not surprised.

Oh how well they've been taught to think of their dad as having little meaning to them. At least it wasn't totally overlooked right (by one of them at least)?

I wonder if my stepson is expecting a big gift for his birthday in a few weeks?

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Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's today! I hope you're shown all the appreciation that you deserve!

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Engagements, Wedding Rings, and Conflict

When you agree to marry a man with an ex you share children with, you don't know what the future holds. When I said "yes" to my husband's marriage proposal finally, we happily shopped for wedding rings.

I found the ring I wanted in Ohio (coincidentally, the state we didn't live in) easily enough. We looked through a lot of rings while looking at mens wedding rings for my husband. My husband was picky about choosing his wedding band.

Word got back to the ex quickly that we were engaged. Apparently she knew somebody who worked at the grocery store where we shopped who told her I was wearing a ring. The ex, in turn, called my husband's parents (why, I don't know). The words used was that I was wearing a ring with "a rock the size of Texas." At least I don't need to worry about a tell-all book like Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez did when Marc Anthony's ex-wife wrote a book about her divorce (rumored that he left her so he could marry J. Lo). A phone call to the in-laws seems relatively minor in comparison eh?

How was your engagement news relayed to the ex? Did it cause conflict or was it met with surprising decency?

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Congrats to all the stepmoms who are pregnant!

Several of my stepmommy friends are pregnant, ready to add onto their blended family with another little one to love. I think babies are wonderful and should be celebrated. I hope their family (and other outside influences) allow them all the joy of that without trying to interfere or ruin it for them. After the recent loss a family I know experienced when their pre-teen child drowned, life is too short not to appreciate and love all that you have without making others miserable. Life is hard enough as it is.

I don't expect an ex to show up bearing baby gift baskets or anything. I think that would be asking too much. I do hope the ex's are considerate or if they can't be, that they go by the rule - "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" and make Emily Post proud.

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Surprised He Passed 8th Grade

My stepson's report card came in the mail from the school. He failed every final exam except band. "F" all the way down the rows! It made his final grades "A" for band and D's for the rest. In one class, he had D-, D-, F and ended up with a D. I think somebody was definitely padding the grade for him there because the average of D-, D-, and F does NOT make a D.

Despite meeting with his teachers a few times, the ex isn't ensuring he's doing his homework. She puts up a front when she's with his teachers like she cares and then doesn't do a thing at home. He had missing assignments up the yin yang. I'm sorry but at that age, a parent needs to be checking work every night if a kid proves he or she can not be trusted to do their assignments. If she hasn't enforced any rules for the past three years that he's been barely passing his classes (this is an "A" student so he's just not trying), how is she going to get him to pass high school classes?

I've been ticked off. I think dad should tell his ex that their son should come live here so we can monitor his school work if she won't do it. It'd tick her off but who the heck cares at this point? This is about a kid's future. What it may do, if she knew that school failure was one reason to change custody, is spur her to actually parent the kid.

If one of our kids brought home bad grades like that, they'd lose privileges until the grades came up, but it's just brushed under the rug if it's my stepson. I don't understand why. He's getting the short end of the stick in terms of parenting right now (which is probably how he likes it) but at his age, he shouldn't get the choice!

Maybe the ex is hoping he fails at least one year so it prolongs her weekly tax-free checks from dad.

I'm tired of two different treatments for the kids. Stepson can come here and act up and hubby just "talks" to him and the behavior repeats over and over. If our kids were to act up, they get consequences. Our kids are expected to get good grades, as it should be, but stepson can barely pass for the last three school years and everybody just lets him. So hubby's kids can do what they want and say what they want. They run their mom's house and it reaches over into hubby's visitation since the ex enables them by scheduling their summer so there isn't even a week leftover for dad. Dad lets them get away with it though so he's at fault too. It never used to be this way. We had rules, expectations, etc. and they were the same for ALL of the kids and we followed up and rode the ex's backside if she didn't. It's changed in the last few years as the kids have gotten older and dad has let the ex have more control without his input (BIG mistake!) and just accepted that they don't care about him all that much anymore so he just kind of lets them do what they want (hoping if he does he can retain some shred of a relationship with them). When it's based on their own terms and those terms suck, that's just not right. All the years of PAS took it's toll on everybody.

I need to let go. If his own parents won't do for him, there isn't anything I can do but make my TMJ worse (my jaw is hurting so badly right now...stress does it every time). There are times I'd like to forget that I have two stepchildren for the next 2-4 years until they graduate from school and their mother isn't a factor anymore. Sometimes the stress (and the pain) is too much to think about all the time. Sometimes, it seems like it is too much to ask of our own children as well to go through this.

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ER's Final Season

If you missed the ER Season Finale, you're not the only one. I was one of those who did miss it but I haven't had time to sit and watch it. I stopped watching it several years ago (it was on for 15 years!). I always thought that I'd catch it since John Stamos joined the cast but never did. I wanted to see John Stamos in a lab coat. Many drooled over George Clooney in the beginning but I wasn't one of them. Being a Full House fan, I wanted to see John Stamos in the role with ER. I'll have to check it out online now here.

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Free Sunglasses from Kaenon

Father's Day is a few days away. Do we have our men all set to be dazzled by our appreciation? Mine was dazzled over a month ago when he got his present early. I feel like he should have something else to open though (even though the Roland guitar amp was pretty nice that he did get).

I checked into the Kaenon Father's Day Promotion because they're offering the possibility of free sunglasses (and my husband is never without his sunglasses). After what we spent on the amp, free is good! To get free sunglasses, you have to sign up to their email list. When you do that, they give you a promo code to buy the sunglasses. If Brian Gay or Robert Allenby win the U.S. Open on Father's Day, the sunglasses you ordered are free. Either way, you get a great pair of sunglasses.

My husband has to work on Father's Day so it's not going to be much of a day for him. I hope my stepkids do something nice for their dad.

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Did the ex and step duties affect your wedding plans?

We didn't have a big wedding. We went to the judge to be married. We didn't have a big reception. We had a few people over to my sister's after the judge married us for cake.

Why? Because we were in the middle of a court fight with my husband's ex so he could see his daughter regularly (as opposed to only when the ex could get hubby to jump through her hoops and the prize was a few hours with their daughter) and spend time with his son at all (if he didn't love her - the ex - he couldn't see his son...didn't you know that was how it worked?). We didn't have the funds for a big shindig nor did we have the time to plan it. It didn't matter in terms of our marriage - we've been married almost 14 years and are still going strong.

Yes, I would have liked the dress and the party afterward to dance all night long. Who wouldn't like a professional make up artist doing your make-up like at Newport Rhode Island wedding make-up for a little pampering? I know I would.

The statistics for divorce were against us. With 60% of second marriages failing, the odds were stacked against us. With four children and almost 14 years of marriage, I'd say we're doing OK, despite those statistics!

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Stepdaughter Sends Schedule to Dad - No Room for Dad on it!

Today my stepdaughter sent her dad her schedule this summer. No, not her work schedule. She doesn't have a job where she HAS to be there because her mother has put fear into her. My 16-year-old stepdaughter is afraid that if she works in a place where most teens work at her age (restaurant, babysitting, etc.) that she'll be molested or murdered. Seriously! I'm not teasing here AT ALL. She will only work where her mother works and that's it. Somebody forgot to tell the ex that the umbilical cord was cut almost 17 years ago!

It's her driver's training and band schedule. We'd already cleared it with her band teacher for her to miss but she "can't" miss any of it according to her. Driver's training - - well, I'd have her take that in November. Seriously, if she couldn't be bothered to take it anytime in the past two years, since she's been legally allowed to, she can wait a couple more months. I just love how the ex has instilled into the kids that dad's time with them is just so meaningless and that everything else comes first.

If my husband goes by my stepdaughter's schedule, he won't see his kids this summer. So, it'll be either put his foot down or let them have their way. I already know how it's going to go. I am just waiting for confirmation so I can tell my kids, who have been asking when they will see their older brother and older sister this summer, that they won't be. I LOVE how the ex and my stepkids get to control all that and I am the one who has to dry my kids' tears. I really hate this crap!

You know, why is it that the stepkids get coddled like this but my kids get hurt? Let's not disappoint the stepkids by enforcing visitation but let's disappoint the rest of our kids. I think my husband should have to be the one to explain to our kids why their siblings aren't coming over.

Sometimes I get really fed up with this situation. It was better when the kids were younger and weren't active participants in their mother's manipulations. It's getting hard not to place some of the blame on these two teenagers who don't seem to care about anybody else but keeping mommie dearest happy.

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I think summer parenting time is toast, yeah PAS!

Because my stepdaughter HAS to take driver's training right AT the time when her dad would normally get her (it's something she could've done anytime in the past 1-1/2 years and it's also something she could do when school starts)...but she just HAS to do it when dad wanted to see them, I'll bet you the stepkids don't come this summer. She wasn't in any hurry to take it anytime after she turned 14 years and eight months old (when she could legally start the process) and she's been 16 for six months now. She could also take it in November. Nope, she HAS to take it now. Gee, I wonder who planned for it to be right when dad would take his parenting time with them?

Being that I've seen emails in the past where she's told her friend she's scheduling things during what would be her dad's visitation so she doesn't have to go to dad's house and leave her mother, I wouldn't doubt that this isn't just the ex but my stepdaughter joining in the manipulations as well now.

So if dad doesn't see them this summer, when will be the next time he and our four kids will see them? Um, next spring break maybe? It's ok with my stepkids that their dad and their siblings would go a year without seeing them because of a driver's training class she had the past 1-1/2 years to take (more than actually) and could take another time? I know what I would say to that!

Gosh it's nice to pay and pay and pay and have no relationship with the kids. Sure, why not just be a wallet or an ATM for them? That's sarcasm (in case you didn't know). I asked my husband the other day, "Why doesn't the ex just ask you to give them up since she doesn't want them to have anything to do with you anyway?" He said, "Because now she gets the kids AND the money, that's why." Oh yeah, I knew that.

Ahhhhhhhh, years of parental alienation has finally reached its destination. The bitter bulldozer parked its large butt right on top of my husband's rights, taking the kids along for the ride. It worked for her. Parental alienation (aka hostile aggressive parenting) at its finest. Ever hear of an Obsessed Alienator? Wow does it sound familiar!

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How do you handle Father's Day gifts?

As a stepmom, do you help the stepchildren pick out a gift for Father's Day from them?

When my stepchildren were younger, they usually made him something at school plus I made sure we had a gift from them as well. Now that they're teenagers, they live in a different state, and we don't see them as often (not often enough to involve them in buying a gift with me) I've left it up to them to acknowledge dad for Father's Day. I do, however, pick out a gift for dad from us (our own four children and myself) plus the usual school gifts they make at school for him.

Gift ideas for dad could be something related to a hobby he enjoys, sporting event tickets, Mens Sunglasses (my husband is a sunglass fiend), or homemade gifts. If you go with something related to an outdoor hobby like golf or an outdoor sporting event, he's going to need a pair of sunglasses.

So, how do you handle Father's Day in your home?

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Freaked Out

When I hit 37, I kind of freaked out about aging. I went out and bought several skin care products from a local retailer to apply on my skin telling myself it was a birthday present to myself. I must have bought the wrong kind because I actually broke out from them. Either that or my sensitive skin didn't know how to react to healthy products. It looked awful though.

I guess it's not a total waste as my husband has been trying to swipe them from me since I bought them. Maybe I'll give the products to him. He keeps his skin softer than mine!

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Almost Needed Baby Clothes Again

My husband and I had a near miss (would've been baby makes seven!). I had thought we were done having kids but this got me thinking (and online window shopping just in case). Who would not love shopping for baby clothes? They're so tiny and adorable.

Sandbox Couture has the most darling clothes. They also have a line of organic baby clothes. I am going to tell my little sister about them. She is the ultimate crunchy mama. She makes her own baby food, nurses, uses organic wherever she can, etc. She'll love the baby clothes!

I wish my littlest one was tiny enough to wear this outfit. She could wear this with her black boots or little ballet slippers and they'd both look cool.

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Attention Pregnant Stepmoms!

When I was pregnant and couldn't squeeze into my regular clothes any longer, I had no choice but to go into maternity clothes right away or else risk losing my pants around my knees if I kept them unbuttoned to extend their wear. Not anymore!

With the bella band, you can extend the use of your regular clothes. By wearing a bella band from Due Maternity, you can disguise the fact that your bottoms aren't buttoned (or even zipped all the way). It also gives you more security so you don't need to worry about accidentally dropping your drawers to the floor!

If you haven't had your first baby yet, you might not realize that when you leave the hospital after childbirth, you will still look many months pregnant. Believe me, it can be a shock to have so much belly left afterward (says this mom of four kids). I brought both maternity clothes and my regular clothes to the hospital when I delivered, intent on wearing regular clothes home but with my maternity clothes as back-up. Good thing I had the back-up because there was no way I could wear my regular clothes home without risk of showing the public more than they needed to see. I wish I'd had a bella band! All your hopes of wearing your regular clothes home will hit the dust unless you use a bella band.

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Woo Hoo!!!

We are now under the four year mark for when the legal relationship ends with the ex! I am doing the happy dance! LOL.

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Moving Cross Country or Stay Within Driving Distance

We used to live in Michigan but we moved a little further south for two reason:

1. Dealing with the ex and the hostilities related to that situation was too much. We didn't want our other children growing up in that environment; it wasn't fair to them. They deserved a safe and healthy home environment.
2. Dealing with some of my family was too much. Growing up in a highly dysfunctional family, I didn't want that for my kids so we thought putting distance between them and us would be good for our family.

We've lived away from the toxic situations for nine years and I know we made the right decision for our family to move away from toxic relationship and big cities. It was their best chance at a "normal" upbringing.

We had a choice to either move within driving distance of my stepkids (but outside their state) or to agree to cross country moving. We chose to stay closer to my stepkids to maintain visitation more easily. We knew the ex would make putting them on a plane extremely difficult. If she couldn't let them go for a drive two blocks away (where we used to live near her) or a couple hours away (where we lived after that), we knew she'd make an airplane trip impossible for them. The point was to make this easier on all of the children so we stayed closer.

Sometimes I wonder if we'd moved southeast, if it would have been even better in many other ways. I guess we won't know.

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Web Site for Stepkids

For about the last year or so, we've kept a web site for my stepkids. This isn't the first one but it is the one that we actually bought our own domain for (as opposed to the free ones online) and plan to keep until they are both over 18 years old. I worked on it myself to create a nice-looking web site that we update regularly for my stepkids. Keeping in contact with them is very difficult, especially having to work around their mother's feelings about it which has a negative influence on the kids which has a negative influence on their relationship ties to their father and other siblings. It's all related. We needed someplace the kids, who are Internet-savvy, could see that we are thinking about them when letters we send don't get to them or messages on answering machines go ignored.

If you would like to create a site for your stepchildren, remember the Internet Safety Rules (don't post their names, their birth dates, or their pictures publicly). Keep it generic enough that anybody online couldn't track them down (our domain is also privately registered) but THEY know it is for them.

Web sites are a must for businesses and other organizations nowadays and it's been a good way for families to keep in touch as well. You can find out more about it at web site design orange county.

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Army Wives Season Premiere Last Night

I watched the Season Premiere Sunday night of Army Wives on Lifetime. On last night's episode, Catherine Bell (playing Denise Sherwood) had to turn in her women's lab coats when she was fired for cheating on her military husband. If you want to see previous episodes, TV Guide has some of them on the Internet.

This is Season 3 but I just became interested in the show during Season 2. It is a pretty good show, involving the military lives of soldiers and their spouses. I usually watch it while working on my laptop. I'm not sure how true to life it would be since I'm not in the military but it is a good show to watch on a Sunday night.

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Messing with hubby's summer parenting time. Of course she is!

I knew it! You give her an inch and she takes a mile. Hubby drastically reduced his summer parenting time request to keep his ex happy and off the kids' backs. He was only requesting about one-fifth of his time. She came back with half a million things the kids HAVE to do and a "I don't know what to tell you about parenting time" blah blah blah.

What I'd tell her:

I am taking my court ordered parenting time, which is 4-5 consecutive weeks for such and such dates, as opposed to the one week I originally suggested to make things easier for you. Deal with it.

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My Daughter's Talent Show Video

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Friend the Ex on Facebook?

The ex just came up on my suggested list of "people I may know" on Facebook to friend. Yeah, right. I'm not sure how because we don't share any friends for that to happen. Perhaps a family member of my husband has friended her. I don't know. After the history with her, I'd never give her access to my family's information, photos, videos, etc.

When she was invited into my husband's family's yahoo group, my husband told me to stop posting there because our stuff wasn't any of her business. She was invited because of the kids (the kids have their own yahoo email addresses and could be invited personally themselves...it's not like she's posting for them). Her involvement with his family has put a bit of distance in relationships sadly. When you can't talk about problems in your life with your own family, where does that leave you?

Can you imagine after 14 years of bad relations, if we friended each other? If she's not over her victim role yet, it's never going to happen.

In the beginning, when I wore rose-colored glasses, I thought eventually we would all get along. She broke the glasses...stomped on them good.

Is the ex on your Facebook or MySpace? Why or why not?

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Summer Shopping with Big Thighs

Summer is here. Officially, it doesn't start for a couple weeks but when you have kids, summer starts when school lets out for the summer. My kids got out of school a few days ago.

I dread summer feeling and looking the way I do. My thyroid isn't under control and the weight is getting worse. I put on a pair of shorts a few weeks ago when I was taking the summer clothes out of storage and almost had a crying breakdown after seeing myself (wearing the ones that still fit...some didn't anymore which was bad).

Then my husband dragged me through shoe stores looking for a nice pair of sandals for me to wear (yes, my husband!). Men aren't supposed to like shopping. Maybe he thought it'd make me feel better because I suppose shopping for women's shoes does make some women feel better. Shopping has always made me feel worse, especially summer shopping where you wear less. He doesn't understand that. I'm female so I MUST like to shop! Well, not this female.

I want the weather to stay cooler so I can wear jeans that hide my thighs with a pair of boots that draw attention to the length of my long legs as opposed to the width of my thighs! I am not looking forward to the less is more clothing requirements of summer this year.

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Five Year Old Navaeh Buchanan Likely Found Dead in River

With the disappearance of a five year old girl in Michigan in late May, and a body recently found matching her description in a nearby river, Monroe, Michigan residents are saddened and in shock. It seems like people are just waiting for the confirmation that the body found is missing Navaeh (heaven spelled backwards) Buchanan.

I remember when this story hit, the focus was on people "of interest" who were friends of the child's mother who have criminal records for sexual offenses. I don't understand this at all!

First, she was last seen riding a scooter in the apartment of her complex. I don't allow my children outside in our own yard without my watching them. I certainly wouldn't allow them unsupervised time in an apartment complex parking lot! This child was only five years old! She had no business outside without constant adult supervision.

Second, if you are a mother who is dating, you have a responsibility to your child to ensure you are not bringing dangerous people around your child. Men on a sex offender registry qualify as "dangerous people." The mother's boyfriend was a registered sex offender.

After this child's disappearance, the mother's boyfriend (registered sex offender) was driving a van that the police became interested in. The owner of this van, also a friend of this child's mother, was a convicted rapist!

This mother put her child into direct contact with people who had a history of sexual offenses. What was she thinking? She obviously wasn't thinking about her child's best interests. I haven't heard of any charges being filed yet but if this was her body found, I would imagine those will come soon.

I am very sad for this little girl. It's not her fault that the adults in her life didn't take better care of her. Her mother set up circumstances around this little girl that put her in harm's way. I don't have it in me right now to feel bad for the child's mother. I would like to see her charged with something (assuming she wasn't involved in the child's death...she certainly contributed to it with her negligence and reckless endangerment)!!! This makes me so angry.

If you are a mother, you do everything in your power to keep your child safe. She allowed predators around her child. She makes me sick. Some women don't deserve to be called "mother".

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Time to Schedule Summer Parenting Time

It's that time of the year again. Time to deal with the ex to schedule summer parenting time with my stepkids. Oh the joy...oh the pain! Just the thought alone is enough to make my gut hurt (pass the Colonix please)...not the thought of my stepkids coming here but having to "negotiate" with the ex.

In my opinion, there shouldn't be any negotiating. There is a court order and I think hubby should insist on the time in the order. Period. He won't though because the ex will get bent out of shape over not having the kids there to wrap her entire world around and then get the kids involved.

Two years left to deal with the ex for my stepdaughter...four for my stepson...we've made it 3/4 of the way already. I can do this for another four years.

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