For a several years I was a single father raising two
toddlers. My schedule is super busy, so I had to be on-point with scheduling
work, cooking, raising kids, having back up baby-sitters, and building support
system. I learned a lot about services that are available when you need a
helping hand. I had always been independent or so I thought. It was a real
wake-up call and it made me appreciate what single mothers have to go through,
when raising a child by themselves. Kudos goes out to all the single mothers
and fathers.
My struggle was a little different and maybe a little
harder. I can only tell you from my perspective. Here’s the twist, after taking
care of my two youngest children with no financial help from their mother she
kidnapped them from their school, placed a order of protection on me so I
couldn’t come to her home and retrieve the children that had been raised in my
home from their birth. We worked out temporary custody agreement through the temporary order of protection. I was thankful my ex-girlfriends mother was a willing liaison and allowed me to pick the kids up from her house on the weekends. This order of protection situation was the final wake-up call for me, I had enough and decided to file for custody of my children. After a year went past and after I filed for legal
custody of my two children, she decided
to give them back to me. Of course I was happy and continued on with the
custody battle while still paying child support, financially responsible for a
mortgage, the children and all household bills. She never paid me back or offered
any financial support. This is a real struggle, barely making ends meet,
keeping the faith and motivation. Thanks to friends, family and neighbors aka
the “Support System” I was able to gain Sole Legal and Sole Physical custody of
these two wonderful children. I want to share the knowledge of the legal system, Family Support Division, fathering tips and community services learned as I fought for Fathers and Children’s Rights.
