When Mummies and Daddies Misfit

I’m blogging today in support of a Twitter friend, Colin Riches (@Riches_C).  He’s currently urging people to sign a petition to advocate shared parenting and I want to give him all the help I can.  I hope, after reading this, you’ll head straight over and add your name to the list too.

I lost my dad at eighteen.  That was way too early for a ‘Daddy’s Girl’ and it’s affected me in more ways than I could even begin to list.

But I DID have my dad for those eighteen years.  Many children are being denied access to a parent and, in effect, suffer a living bereavement.

If a parent is of sound mind, not abusive or reliant on alcohol or drugs why should they not be allowed to share the parenting?  As the petition states, it takes two to make a child and, wherever possible, it should take two to raise one.

A fellow Twitterer raised a point that I know many will be thinking.  ‘Isn’t that just the norm?  The parents agree and do what’s best for the child.’

Sadly, no.  The law is more often on the side of the mother and there are many women who use their children as a bartering tool.  Rather than do what’s best for their children they see them as a weapon to hit out with cruelty at the partner.  This needs to be stopped.

I’m not just supporting Colin and his mission on a whim - I’ve lived through this.  I’ve seen how it can affect a man.  Seen the torture and the unnecessary heart-ache it causes to both the father and the child(ren).

As a mother, I know how we are prepared to fight and do battle for our kids.  It’s in our make-up to do everything in our power to protect them - we’d kill for them, if it came to it.  But mothers who deliberately become obstructive and manipulative to stop a child seeing a decent, honest father who wants to build a solid relationship with his off-spring, are not acting in the interests of the child they profess to love and more needs to be done to raise awareness of this.

Wherever possible, and if it causes no upheaval to the children, shared parenting or equal access should become the norm.

How many more fathers do we need to see either broken or taking their own lives because of the inequality in the law?

Ask yourself the question:  What’s best for the children?  And if your answer is to know the feeling of love from both parents, you need to head on over RIGHT NOW and sign this petition.  Please don’t think that you’ll do it later.  Do it now and help make changes.