I didn’t realize until my daughter turned eighteen how stressful it has been for me to maintain a relationship with her father. Now I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I have a new found freedom.
I always did my best to bite my tongue and keep the peace, anything so that Hailey could have both of her parents and as little tensions as possible. For the past ten years he has made very little effort while I have worked my butt off to keep some semblance of a family for Hailey.
Now my daughter is eighteen. The relationship she does or does not have with her father is not my doing or even my business anymore. It’s wonderful not to have that added stress in my life. It’s very hard to always have to be nice to someone who has hurt you in the past. As a single mother I felt a responsibility to put my feelings aside in order to foster my daughter’s relationship with her father.
No more. Those days are over. I’ve been as nice as I have to be for the last time. It’s very liberating to know that I don’t ever have to talk to this man again. If you get divorced and you don’t have children you don’t ever need to see or speak to your ex husband again. When there are children involved it’s a whole different story.
I’m glad that time of my life is over. I don’t have to be nice to someone who hurt me and who continues to be rude and arrogant. It’s amazing the things we will do for our children. I hope they continue to have a relationship. I doubt it because her father doesn’t put forth the effort. I was always the one making sure they spent time together. I’m no longer responsible for this, it is totally his, and I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.