When he realises that the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come have done their work all in one night, and not over the course of three consecutive days, as originally promised, Ebenezer Scrooge is both surprised and delighted. I love this story, but I always thought that, despite his conversion, at this […]
Tag: relationships
Fix you
Ever since everything happened with E, one of the things I have tried to do, some days with more success than others, is balance being honest with the children about what is happening, with protecting them as much as possible from hurt. I think I’ve got better at it as time has gone on. In […]
Live
Youngest Daughter’s attempts to make her dad listen to her took another turn at the weekend. Until she hijacked his Facebook Live lecture the previous week, I’d managed to (mostly) keep her from talking about what was happening on social media. However, the fact that even spilling the beans about what was happening live on […]
Consequences
Never one to mince her words. Youngest Daughter jumped straight into the comments thread with: “ooh look, it’s my dad, haven’t seen him since 2016” and frankly it then went downhill for him from there. I was in the room with her whilst she was commenting, and she was both exhilarated with and overwhelmed by […]
Perfect Storm
Youngest Daughter’s GCSE results marked the beginning of a downward slope for her. In the days following the results I felt like I was walking a very high tightrope with no safety net. Everything I said or suggested (or even didn’t say or suggest) would be met with an explosion of rage and a slammed door. […]
Silence
Whilst E’s withholding money in November (I’ve yet to see what his plans are for December) has caused me personal anguish, the financial stress and worry I’ve felt has been nothing compared to the effect this has had on the children. I’ve tried to not let them see how distressing I’ve found it personally, but, […]
Bully
When I was 15, I was bullied by a group of about ten boys in my year. I was the new girl. They were a gang that (ridiculously), called themselves The Swarm. Their MO was to slowly approach and surround their target in the school playground, whilst slowly saying the word ‘swarm’. Once they’d done […]
Money
The children’s reactions to E’s decision to withhold payment of the money were varied. Apart from Oldest Daughter, I didn’t tell them what had happened for a week or so. To be honest, I was hoping that E had forgotten, or was just making a point before he paid the money. When it became clear […]
1989
I remember 1989 clearly. It was the year I started at University (the place that E and I would meet the following year) and danced the nights away to Ride on Time and Like A Prayer in the Student Union. It was my gap year and I was lucky enough to live in Paris for […]
Swimming
Throughout everything that’s happened with E, one thing that has helped is the fact that I am, by nature, an optimist. I have always tried to find a way out of any negative situation (and I was in a fair few financial ones over the years with E), however, I must admit, after the last couple […]
He-total: Life without Ex 