You can imagine how that went over.
Um. No. I'm a single everything.
I singularly raised them from the moment they were an egg with no feet.
I singularly have met every teacher, sat through every doctor appointment. I sit alone, in the dark or with the sun blazing through the windows, to rub their back when they are sick or hold their hair when they throw up. I sit up by myself every night running through all of the things they need to take to school the next day. Just last night, I was the single parent in the room reading spelling words off while making dinner and getting the class treats ready for two separate parties I can't attend. Me. Just me. And it's been that way from the beginning.
Yes, he is absolutely more present now in their lives than he was when we shared an address. He, without a doubt, knows them better now than he did when he had the opportunity to spend every day with them. But, that doesn't diminish the facts.
Because, and I cannot stress this enough, paying for health insurance and a family size bag of Doritos doesn't make anyone a parent.
Paying for anything doesn't make you a parent.
There are a million ways to be a great parent and not a single one can be found on your bank statement.
There is no co- anything for me. Heaven knows I would do backflips in a field of poseys if there could ever be a co-nversation that didn't end in frustrated anger and hurt feelings. I would hand over all my top secret recipes for just one co-mmon goal.
So, to everyone who thinks you can co-parent with a tiny portion of someone's paycheck: find me one time they went stumbling in the dark looking for a checkbook to soothe them after a nightmare. Draw me a picture of that time I could throw a $20 at their advanced math homework to get it completed before dinner. Please.
I will appreciate your comments when they make even a penny's worth of sense to my situation.
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