Tom, a single father of three girls whose mother walked out on them, faces a difficult co-parenting situation with his ex-wife when he tries to educate his daughters about periods, causing a heated argument and leading Tom to question his actions.
He Was a Single Father
Meet Tom, a 37-year-old man who has three daughters aged 8, 10, and 12. Tom’s wife left him for another man when their youngest daughter was only four years old. Despite this, Tom’s ex-wife still stays in contact and pays child support.
He Tried to Help Her
A few weeks ago, while doing laundry, Tom noticed red spots on his oldest daughter’s underwear. When he asked her about it, she started to cry and told him that she had tried to call her mother, but she didn’t call back. She had been stuffing toilet paper in her underwear, hoping that would work. Tom explained to her that periods are nothing to be ashamed of and found some great resources online for them to review together. He even took her to the store to pick out the brands of feminine products she wanted to use.
He Learned a Lot
Tom decided to do the same thing with his other two daughters, and his 12-year-old volunteered to be part of the preparation. They made a whole night of it, and Tom learned a lot. However, when Tom’s ex-wife called back for a video chat, she was furious about Tom talking about periods with the girls.
The Ex-Wife Shouted at Him
Tom’s ex-wife shouted at him, calling him sick and perverted, and asked why he didn’t call her himself. She also suggested that he could have called one of their grandmas or aunts. Tom’s mother has dementia, and his ex-wife’s family calls him a loser because he teaches kindergarten, so he’s not fond of them.
He Shouted Back
Tom responded by shouting back, bringing up everything his ex-wife does that hurts their children. She hasn’t been to a single soccer game, piano recital, or gymnastics meet in two years, and when the girls come home from her house, they go straight to their rooms, only to emerge hours later asking Tom why their mother loves her new husband more than them.
The Daughters Heard Him Shout
Tom’s ex-wife responded by saying that Tom should tell the girls that it’s not their fault he couldn’t satisfy her. This made Tom angry, and he shouted “Get Lost.” When he turned around, his 8-year-old and 10-year-old daughters were standing in the doorway crying. Tom’s heart broke at the sight of his daughters crying, and he knew he had scared them. His 12-year-old daughter stormed in and started screaming at her mother, but Tom didn’t want her to fight this battle. His ex-wife hung up before he could fully de-escalate the situation.
He Felt Awful
Tom felt terrible about the situation and tried to make it up to his daughters by giving them free reign of ice cream and limitless hours of video games. He even watched all the Twilight movies with them to show that he loved them. Despite his efforts, Tom couldn’t shake the feeling that he had done something wrong. He wondered if he was the wrong for shouting at his ex-wife and causing his daughters to cry. “I know that I shouldn’t have shouted, but I was so angry about the way my ex-wife was treating our daughters. I just wanted to protect them and make sure they knew that they weren’t at fault for anything.”
He Tried to Work Things Out
In the end, Tom realized that he needed to focus on what was best for his daughters and try to work with his ex-wife to provide a stable and loving environment for them. “I know that we have our differences, but we need to put our daughters first and work together to provide the love and support they need. I hope that we can find a way to communicate better and build a better co-parenting relationship.”
Straight to the Internet
Tom’s situation highlights the difficulties of co-parenting after a divorce and the importance of putting the children’s needs first. It also shows the impact of absent parents on children and the responsibility of the remaining parent to provide emotional support and understanding. However, Tom was not done there. He decided to tell his story on a popular internet forum and receive the opinions of others about his situation.
The Internet Responds
One person comments, “It’s easy to assume the worst. Children are more observant than we give them credit for. That your daughter defended you right away pretty much makes it impossible to consider you a jerk. Looking at it from a pure logic standpoint, isn’t it better they learn not to expect anything from their mom early in life? Certainly, you shouldn’t have lost your temper in front of children, but no one is perfect, especially when someone is calling you perverted for being a great single dad. You also had no idea they were there listening so closely. Honestly, you are way too hard on yourself to even think you needed to post here. Keep on being a great dad!”
A Further Response
Another writes, “My dad bought me my first box of pads (mom was in the hospital giving birth to my sister at the time, we had no other options), and he was a champ about it. No complaints, no awkwardness, just ‘here honey, let me know if these don’t fit and I’ll get you a different size.'”
A Final Response
A third person comments, “Man, we all need to chip in and find a way to get this guy a superhero cape. And possibly a tee shirt that has a big ‘SD’ on it.”
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