“Unparenting”

There has to be a word to describe a parent who neglects responsibility for the children in every way, over several years; yet still demands and threatens if things aren’t to their liking.

I am so tired of the dark cloud of continuous litigation hanging over my head. The most recent demands come from the dad’s…well….maybe 10th attorney. How does he have money to do all this, yet can’t help with medical costs or pay a minimal amount of support for the kids that he wanted so much? And wait….did I just count 10 new cows grazing in his field?!

Everything was going smoothly. The kids were making real progress toward resuming supervised visits. I was very hopeful that the dad had made progress as well….I was wrong. Instead of moving toward a supportive coparenting relationship….I was ghosted. I still send notice when the kids see doctors, and education related information. There is no response. The current litigation that was started, was something that could have been communicated through a text, if it wasn’t for the need for power and control. I have learned (mostly) to let go of what I can’t control. It’s not always easy, but it saves my sanity.

There was never any “co-parenting”….for a while there was “counter-parenting”….even “parallel parenting”…. and now we have “unparenting”. In one swoop, all of the progress is halted and reversed. Instead of building relationships and mending bridges, he continues to set it all ablaze in a metaphorical fire.

~AoA