I Don't Really Want To Send My Kid To Her Dad's House Anymore
At what point is more love less beneficial?
A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our daughter's fifth birthday. As usual, I organized and paid for the whole thing. That's fine since I make all of the decisions and I'm the one who settles on making her birthday a big deal anyway.
I invite her dad, his wife, and the 6 other kids between them. This year, once I was aware that they have housemates with a 5-year-old son, I told my ex to invite them all too. I invited cousins too. It's the one time of year that I plan an event where I take on the full cost of entertaining and feeding other people, and this was my third year.
These birthday parties for our daughter have also become the one time a year that all of the kids and 3 of the 5 parents are in one room together. The only parents not present are my ex's first wife and her second husband since they naturally spend no time with my kid.
And while I'm grateful that my daughter gets to spend her birthday with so many loved ones, I can't help but feel that for the most part that I'm done sending my kid back to her dad's.
