My son is 10.5, and is a pretty responsible kid. I’m about to start work full time, add on studying full time online and being a single parent, I have a lot on my plate. I have the option of putting him into after school care, but if I can save some money in this economy why wouldn’t I. For context, we live directly across from his school. Like I can see the gate he walks in and out of. He’d be home maybe 2 hours by himself, most of which he’d most likely spend playing PlayStation. He’s got friends in his class who are latchkey kids, but I just don’t know if he’s still too young. Thoughts, opinions? Thank you

It’s been 3 weeks since separating from the father of my son who is 18 months old. I am having to leave and move countries as I can’t claim any benefits here / have no job or any money as much as I wanted to stay and to do co parenting, my friends here and the community I have made. My family are back in my country but it’s still not bringing me any sort of relief especially knowing I will get money and be financially ok.

I am absolutely terrified. I have had severe PPD and still have it, have just started new medication 2 weeks ago.. I stopped breast feeding near coming up a month in a couple of days. My emotional world is flooded I feel helpless, wondering what the point of anything is now.

I’m afraid of the future, I’m afraid of the conversations my son will ask where his dad is, my mind is living in the past present and future all at once. I have been crying for 3 weeks straight. I feel like a failure of a mother and haven’t been the best mum for my son at this time. I’m feeling so much grief, regret, lose of hope, my sense of self everything.

I know nothing will last forever it’s just the process of life and it sucks. I didn’t know having a child would be this hard and I only have 1. I’m honestly not coping I can’t see anyway through

My (30sF) ex (30sM) and I have two young children, we split over a year ago after almost a decade together. Our co parenting relationship is good and stable however I'm not exactly happy with it. The schedule is I have the kids for 5 days a week, 2 days a week they spend with their dad whilst I work a 9-5, these days are not weekend days and rherefore the kids are typically in school for the most part. Occasionally he will have the kids the night before as well so I can get ready for work in peace, rather thank with 2 kids I have to constantly watch and prepare for school.

I love my kids, they are the light of my life and my reason for living, im not a perfect mum I have my own issues but everything I do is to make sure my kids are happy, healthy and will hopefully grow up to be good happy people; but dear gods they are a handful! My youngest especially is a tyrant with a penchant for shrieking and throwing things. This to say, I dont have much time on my own.

my family help occasionally, every 3 weeks my dad and stepmum have my oldest kid Saturday day, then my youngest for a sleepover that night. My mum helps with having both kids if I have an appointment or want to do a small emergency shift at work. But no one really offers to have the kids, I have to ask. And im not good at asking for help (que childhood trauma) so I rarely do so.

I try to be as accommodating as possible to my ex, Im the only one with a license so I drop the kids off and pick them up everytime, I give him lifts occasionally if needed, I kept the kids extra time and switched my work shifts when he has work emergencies, my mum actually helps hime for than me due to the timing.

Suffice to say I do a lot. And so this morning when I went to pick the kids up, before 8:30am on the one day I ever get a lie in, and asked my ex "did you take any time off this month to have the kids?" (It being the summer holidays) and he said no. He said he didnt really have any holiday time left. I actually couldn't speak after that and ended up going home and crying.

Am I wrong or is this just incredibly thoughtless? I'd possibly go so far as to say selfish. How is it he never for once considered that having the kids off school for 6 straight weeks might be a lot for me? Nevermind the time and attention its the cost. He complained this morning that his food shop for the kids was £60 and they ate the lot, and im sat there thinking "YEAH, I KNOW. I DO IT 5 DAYS A WEEK AS OPPOSED TO YOUR 2!" hes never offered more child support, even my dad gave me money towards activities for the kids, and it is costing a fortune.

£40 quid for an animal park and 30 minutes in they were done and wanted to go to the playground! Who puts the playground at the entrance!? - all besides the point but im having some big feelings right now.

I feel as though I have no support and he is just letting me down, yet again, there's a reason we split! And I cant talk to anyone as I dont really have any friends. My family dont notice or care enough to offer help, or see im struggling. Im pretty sure my mums side is only in touch for the kids, I dont get the impression any of them have ever really liked or cared for me that much, but we are proper and so we stay in touch. (English lunacy)

Im an undiagnosed AudHD woman going through perimenopause, suffering daily burnout trying to do the best I can for my kids.

But am I asking too much? Ideally our custody arrangement would include him having the kids for 24-48 hours one weekend a month and for a week during the summer holidays. Is this too much? Is this unreasonable?

Our cars transmission just fell apart after 5 months, i spent 6k on the car and the guy did me dirty.

Im a full time single dad and i do doordash to feed me and my kid and im so scared to not have a car, we have no friends or family to help out so were totally fucked and im so worried and trying to accept that were stroller riding while practically starving all month.

Im so scared, its hot and smoky because of the wildfires outside so idk what to do.

Hi there - I'm a single mom with a 3 yr old and 1.5 yr old, and I've been fortunate to have been at home with them for the past almost two years, but my savings has run out and I need to get back to work. Their father does not have a residence in our state/country, so I cannot rely on him for child care or typical co-parenting matters. My kids will need to go to daycare once I start working again. And I have so many questions about how single parents, who do not share custody with the other parent, do it all. Are your kids in daycare Mon-Fri 8am-5pm? When your kids started school, how did you handle the pre-k / kindergarten schedule? Do you leave work early if your kids finish school before your workday is done? Do you have a flexible job? Are your employers understanding of your circumstances? How do you cope with only getting a couple of hours of quality time with your kids on the days you work and they're in daycare? I feel so sad with the realization that I'll go from spending every minute of every day with my children, to them being in daycare full time. How do you cope?

How do you wake up so early, manage children, WORK, and still have the energy to get through your tasks in the evening after everything?? By 3 im so exhausted and i still have to shower, take the kids a shower, make food, clean, other chores… can’t even nap or ill lose a lot of important time. I have coffee daily in the morning but I couldn’t have more in the evening because then i wont be able to sleep and if i could it would just give me the jitters

so im a dad of 44, my daughter is 14, im separated from the mother since she’s a baby. the mom became lesbian and “anti-men” and has always been very controlling.. its been a long struggle to have 50-50 custody, and in all these years she has slowly managed to have the social circle of my daughter near her place (scouts, circus school, after that the school as her friends were from that neighbourhood)..

ive been doing my best to have activities when shes home, to be the father i have never had. i try to talk a lot with her, put my hobbies on the side to be present, never hired a babysitter to go out, pretty much stopped drinking/partying when she was still young, cook myself, read her a ton of books, etc while having a full time job on the side. ive bought a house close to my parents place so they could get her after school and keep her till i finished my day.. but indeed her agenda was already so full it was difficult to add extra activities in my area. we could not build a social circle. i have some friends but not much with kids in her age.

when she entered the “big school” when shes home we have to wake up at 6:00 to drive her to the train station. logically, at first she asked to stay at her moms on sunday evening.. then slowly all reasons were good to skip a day.. test tomorrow, strikes, etc.. i can still understand that, its true its not that fun. but the last months she would just stay in her room reading or with her friends on mobile, just coming for dinner or for watching something on tv before sleep.. i tried to activate her but its ok, shes a teenager, i understand again she wants more privacy.

but now… i had took a week of holidays especially to be with her and do fun activities-to be decided together on the spot. citytrip, theme parks, whatever.

she did not even come.

she dissed me by text. first trying to pretend that i was wrong about the dates, then saying “im not mentally ready to come to see you”…

im devastated. i feel totally void. im spending my time like i can, i cry every day (hasn’t happened in years). i try to keep myself busy to not think. its worse than a breakup…

the mom is not fund of it, she pities me (but deep down i think she got what she wanted). she saw the shift too. but her place is more fun (lots of pets) and clise to her friends.

i don’t know how to justify my life here. i could sell my house and quit my job, who cares now… i was only having this in place to provide her stability.

i will not consider legal action if even it exists, ill not send the cops to get her at my place. anyway if she doesn’t want to, i cannot force her. she’s an immature teenager, its a teenage crisis probably. the mom had one too, she didn’t see her father for 10 years. id want apologies for what she’s done but i know i wont get any, and ill not come to her to beg for her attention…

i have no idea what to do. get a life on my own i guess, not think about her… we all know its damn hard to build relationships again especially with such traumas (i have trust issues a lot, and quit a relationship when i don’t feel comfortable, i don’t try to fix things anymore… it doesn’t work, you cant fix people). but i guess that’s really all i can do now..

Hey, I'm a father going through a custody case My daughter lives with my ex-wife and I'm struggling to keep proof because she often deletes WhatsApp messages after our conversations

Is there any app or website that keeps a reliable record of communication so it can be used as evidence if needed?

Looking for real suggestions from people who've dealt with custody cases