God bless you. This is a tough one. Sounds like me when i had to leave my kids. I was there, coming home drunk. It wasn't easy to leave but it was the best thing i could have done for my kids. They're Dad raised them for six yrs. and is doing a darn good job. He told me to leave. Today i am sober and helping the Dad & kids out. I pray and wish things get better for you & child. God loves you and so do i. God bless. Sometimes tough love is the best. i don't know!

Your daughter is lucky that she has you in her life. That she can trust you is wonderful. I am so sorry you have to see her heart break, it just sucks! Last night my stbx came over for a bit and said he would have dinner with us befor he left, and everything was smooth but when it was time for me to make dinner, he just changed his mind. Broke my 8 year olds heart. He was just SAD for 2 hours. Hang in there - you are doing a great job!

to be honest, some women dont care..... how old is the mother? You need to be honest with your children no matter what, even if it hurts. Kids these days are very smart and they know what's going on. If you make excuses, it will only allow your daughter to doubt your word. Good Luck!

I know what you're saying and it killed me to see my son go through the same thing your daughter is. My Ex-Husband, my sons father, walked out and never looked back and we never seen him until he took me to court to stop child support. He never paid a damn dime even before he left, he said he'd go to jail before paying anything. And yes the courts sided with him, he has to pay absolutely nothing because he's supposedly unable to work, but he's a pretty good mason, under the table of course. Whatever. Any way, I stopped with the excuses because, to me, I realized I was hurting my son too, not intentionally but just by trying to protect his heart and comfort him. So, I finally took him to a psychologist to help me tell our son what really happened, that daddy is not coming back and we have to learn to deal with it. Not in those words though. He is 7b now and we are doing well. I still have to prove to him that I will ALWAYS be there on a daily basis but he is sooooooo worth it. To make him secure again is what would make me happy. I drop him off at school, I pick him up after school, we play together, talk and everything I think a parent should do and be, but I feel I must be there more for him because of the way things happened and he took it really hard as do all children, they just have different ways of dealing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is stop with the excuses, let the x deal with her own crap she created, you on the other hand can help your children deal with it as kindly as possible, let them feel and heal. It will be hard and long but there will be the day they thank you for it and you'll be very happy you did too.

Sorry if this upsets you but I believe truth over rules any bulls--t. People, including children, respect the truth more then lies, cover up and what ever you want to call it.

Wishing you the best in your decision with this.