Readers, you are coming into a story already in progress, so you will learn bits as we go. So my daughter Addie is 6. Her biological father has been present, technically, her whole life, but in terms of the actual parenting… Well, I would let the evidence do the talking. Her doctors either haven’t seen him in 5 years or never have. He missed major events until after I got out. She talks about not wanting to see him. Tyler on the other hand, has been in her life in one capacity or another since she was young. Addie doesn’t remember before him.

I am giving you this kind of background so you can understand the present. I will confess the background is limited. I don’t want to provide too much information or anything outside fact. Regardless, it leads to the present situation: custody. Like most Narcissistic Abusers, playing super dad is part of the strategy. Fighting for 50/50 custody is part of it even if the evidence and what is best for Addie just doesn’t align with it. The heat has been elevated and he thinks that is somehow going to make me stop focusing on her. His trick right now: delay payment on her child support and other expenses. He has tried to be a bully throughout this process and this is just another example, but it doesn’t make it any less exhausting.

My best advice and how I am coping: document. I document everything. It helps for evidence, but it also helps us. It makes us know we aren’t helpless, that we are doing something. Hang in there others. I know I am.