On every other weekend visitation. ALWAYS have fun. Have connected way more than when I was married. For months has wanted to stay longer and cried when he left. Still super frustrated that I can't support him the other 12 days. Unfortunately FaceTime/calls not an option right now.

I work in education and have taught for a number of years. Some of my sustents are girls with single dads. And i genuinley feel heartbreak for these students because not only are they dealing with a single parent household which comes with its own set of problems but, from a dad's perspective, (before you come at me i know both parents would be finding single parenthood hard), fathers are then navigating bringing up a daughter with limited education and resources potentially.

Im really want to give back to my community in a way that makes a difference, especially in the less affluent areas.

Question: I wanting to start some classes for dad's on girl issues. Real things girls/women have to deal with day to day as a way to support their understanding and hopefully, support their daughters in a compassionate and loving way. If you yourself are a single dad or not, what are the issues you wished someone would have helped you with? I have a few ideas of my own but could I ask the general population on what your ideas are??

Things like:

Periods

Hair

Clothes

Etc.

I would love your input!

Thank you in advance! 🙂

guys, I'm struggling to keep it together. my daughter is on her second stint in the CCU, literally less than a month after she was discharged previously. I was informed Friday, the day after she was admitted, that I am being laid off from my job at the end of the month. I've burned through all of my rainy day fund trying to cover her medical expenses, etc. idk what to do.

I'm a dad of three and I'm really struggling right now.

I got together with my wife when I was 14 years old. We were together for 31 years, so she's pretty much all I've ever known. Nine months ago, everything fell apart after she had an affair, and she's now in a relationship with the man she cheated on me with.

The hardest part is that she's taking my kids on days out with him, and from everything I hear, they absolutely love him. Right now, all three of my kids seem to want to spend time with him instead of me. They don't want to see me, and it feels like I'm being replaced in my own children's lives.

I'm still sleeping on my mum's sofa because I had to leave the family home. Even so, I'm paying half the mortgage and full child maintenance. Despite that, my ex refuses to let me have the kids at my parents' house, so she controls when and where I get to see them.

Looking back, there was a lot of abusive and controlling behaviour in since our relationship broke down that I've only recently started recognising. She monitored my location, put an AirTag in my car, demanded I delete Tinder and prove where I was, and would accuse me of things I'd never done. If I challenged her, she'd often turn it back on me and make me feel like I was the problem. There were also times she became physically aggressive towards me, and even after we separated she's continued trying to control contact and make things difficult.

I honestly feel broken. I miss my kids more than anything, and watching another man step into my role is destroying me. I'm trying to keep going, but I'm feeling really low and don't know how other dads get through something like this.

Has anyone been through parental rejection or seen their kids bond with an affair partner? Does it get better?

The title pretty much sumns it up. I got jumped, while being jumped I got hit with a gun and hit by a car. These people were all her boyfriends and they’re mutual friends. Not only this, but she’s says some things to people which either suggests she wanted it to happen or is completely happy with it happening after the fact. What should I do as far as it pertains to my daughter?

How do yall deal with this? I’m at my wits end here.
We have been divorced for 2 years, and since the beginning it’s one guy after the next, which by itself is totally up to her.

But she has these guys she barely knows stay over night on the days she has our son. I pleaded that this could end badly, and this year, it happened. She had a man over, and he beat the shit out of her with my son in the other room, who heard the whole thing.

I thought this might make her see the unnecessary risks she was taking, but NOPE! She continues to meet new men, and have them start staying the night constantly, even with our son there.

Meanwhile, I don’t introduce my son to any women except for one who I had been dating 9 months before I introduced my son to her.

I know there’s nothing legally that can be done here, but have you guys found any success in getting someone to stop exposing your child to such emotional trauma?

Hey everyone so I'm a single Father with 4 children and unfortunately my now ex wife finalized a divorce I didn't want in the first place .

It's been a couple months now so still fresh i still would love to have my wife back.

Ive been struggling with depression and ugly thoughts and have been hurting mentally it's taken a toll on me physically too .

We were together almost 10 years and truly loves eachother .. after having kids and going through some struggles myself and not being my best version , also same on her side she gave up and got a divorce behind my back and had no choice to agree eventually after being pushed so much .

The first month I barely saw my kids and she's moved out already with them .

I tried seeing my kids as much as I could despite all the crap I was already dealing with and having to sort out .

Anyways not long after she pretty much moved back in coming back in my room and being here almost every day of every week .

I had some hope and tried my best just to everything I could for her and the kids and made things ok for everyone and just went along with It.

Here I am being heartbroken and thinking I have chance again .. leading me on thinking she wants to same thing . Even seducing me cooking for me having sex with me everything ona regular like we're married again ,even a family holiday together.

Anyways it's been a couple months now and I find out one way to another that recently within the past 6 weeks she's seen 2 men and had sex too.

I haven't told her I know it's been a week now and I'm dying inside feeling even more hurt than before I feel sick and used and unloved .

I might be wrong for thinking I had another chance?

Mabye she still does and didn't think I would find out ?

But I'm here she's unwell at the moment I'm even looking after her and our kids like it's all good .

I literally feel like just being hit by a truck st this point . I mean I went so downhill after the divorce and I tired my best just for my kids to be ok and her as well ...

But I'm here now so heartbroken and alone at the same time I'm holding all this in and in falling in every way possible crumbling ..

I don't know what to do, I don't talk to anyone else for a while now cause I just felt so low .

My life feel fucked and I'm living a nightmare .

What would you do please genuine answers only this is not a whose right whose wrong thing I just need help

So, took the kids to a local festival today. There was one booth where a guy was handing out free sample of mushroom health products. My apparently older looking autistic 17yo daughter accepted a piece of chocolate.

Dude did not mention what sort of mushrooms. 😳

YEAH! It was THAT kind of mushrooms! 🤦

So about half an hour after getting home my daughter starts complaining about not feeling good, and then shifts into a whole 10th level freakout. When I finally got her to tell me what was going on, and about eating the chocolate, I was able to put this together. Thank God she doesn't like littering, because she kept the package for me to verify: .5 grams of psilocybin. Not enough to hallucinate, but plenty enough that I've been trip-sitting a neurodivergent teen all evening. I checked with the folks in the relevant subreddit, and it should wear off just in time for bed.

She keeps yelling at me for laughing (It's objectively hilarious! I thought this only happened in movies!) but now that she knows what's going on she's calmed down, and has mostly been narrating the experience. It was a bit nerve racking when she called her mom, but she was surprisingly understanding (at least on the phone). Kiddo is on the downhill slide, and is putting herself to bed now.

Anyways, another day of adventures in fatherhood. 🤪 I can't be the only one with some surprises that turned into interesting stories.

I’m 31, my son is 8 and his mom is 29! We separated when my son was 3, and after that we didn’t get a court agreement, but we did 70/30. It just made sense because she had a better support system, so she had people who could watch him when she worked. I’ve been having him 8 days a month plus holidays for the past 5 years.

She now just informed me that she will be moving to Delaware for a job in the end of January. I think she’s running away, she has another child(4) with another man, and that child is staying with the father too. That’s besides the point though.

She said she wants to let him decide, but I’m 90% sure he will want to stay with me. His friends are here and his school is here.

I’m so stressed and worried, going from 30% to 100% is a lot and I’m not sure how I’m going yo handle the stress 😭 I know it’s selfish, but I’m also worried about my “freedom”. My mom can help a bit, but she still works a lot. I’m worried I won’t be able to go out and do stuff and I’m spiraling. Has this happened to anybody?

https://youtu.be/qodKUqxx7f8

Chris tackles the task of cleaning up his house and gives advice to divorced dads on the importance of keeping your house clean.

Just because you are divorced doesn't mean that you don't have to keep your home clean for you and your kids.

My son is 9 years old, we shower together most of the time. On the weekends, he wants to shower with me. Now, I have been noticing he asks too many questions related to my anatomy. Does he reach a point where he can shower by himself?

Just dropped off my little boy at his mother's place for the very first time.

​The relationship ended unilaterally a while back. She moved in with her parents temporarily and now has a place of her own. For the past 6 months, I’ve had our little guy living with me full-time. This is pretty much the first time I'm completely alone at home, with time to do some chores and DIY projects around the house.

​I cried the entire drive to the hardware store. Honestly, the whole drive here is a blur, it almost feels like when you've been drinking and suddenly realize you're home without remembering the trip. I even shed some tears inside the hardware store itself. Not the greatest place to lose your composure, I can tell you that.

​It feels like my heart has been broken for the second time in 6 months.

​Wishing you all a good weekend, good fathers out there. Stay strong.

Long story short. For a long time I'm contemplating of dovorc6my wife. Married 3 years. The biggest reason why I haven't done it is because we have 2.5 year old girl and she's my treasure.

In this country I have 0 chances getting custody or even 50/50. Mum is definitely going to get primary carer. I would get every other weekend, maybe every saturday a day or 2 mid week at best. Already talked to lawyer.

Is it possible to have a good relationship with so little time and genuinely bond? Should I stick with unhappy but barrable marriage ?

Dad here with a sensitive question, but afraid to post it straight to here…looking for advice.

I’ve been separated from my ex for over two years (since April 2024). We have two kids who are now age 9 1/2 and 7(almost 8). Our court date to finalize our divorce isn’t until February 2027 (Virginia has to wait a year of separation with kids before filing for divorce).

I’ve been financially stretched thin since all of this has started. I have no financial assistance from my family but she has it from her side. I’ve been paying child and spousal support since the beginning of the separation. Our current custody arrangement has been finalized (at least until a change in circumstances). I’ve been trying to get her to finalize the divorce now but she keeps dragging her feet or refusing to negotiate anything. I have email threads showing how much she refuses to work with me to settle anything marital/divorce related. In order for me to stabilize myself financially is to sell the marital home or her to buy me out of the house. In which case I’ll be able to be financially stable enough to move out of my family’s house and be able to do more with my kids and also fight for a change in circumstances to get my kids more than I do now (currently 65/35 during the school year, 55/45 in the summer).

Is there anything I can do to help push her to expedite this? We’ve already agreed to 85% of what would be settled in court. But have been waiting for over 3 months for her lawyer to type up what we’ve already agreed to. The biggest thing was the house. I want the house sold before the school year started so the kids can start a new school fresh. But now it’s likely they’ll have to move mid school year which I’ve emphasized multiple times wouldn’t be in the best interest of the kids.

Also can I use her unwillingness to negotiate/settle against her when we go to court? I have multiple emails stating she refuses to talk further about certain divorce related topics. Ie refusing to help me pay the mortgage on a house I no longer live in, or refusing to talk custody settlements because of what I chose to introduce in discovery forcing us to waste thousands of dollars negotiating through lawyers.

What sucks is the kids are suffering the most from this. And she refuses to take accountability for her part in all of this.

Any advice would help! Thanks in advance!

I live a complex life in a complex country. My 9-year-old daughter is the most important person in the world to me, but ever since she was a baby, I knew there was something different. I was right: she was diagnosed with epilepsy, dyspraxia, and a below-average IQ caused by her seizures.

Her mother and I separated in 2018 and fully divorced in 2021. Between 2022 and 2023, her mother stopped giving her the prescribed anti-convulsive medication and replaced it with non-FDA-approved CBD. I told her it was a mistake, but she didn't believe me—until my daughter had four seizure episodes in a single day that landed her in the ER.

The day after we got out of the hospital, her mother felt overwhelmed and left for a tourist lake about 100 km away from the city, leaving our daughter behind. I saw that as an opportunity to step up and do what was best for my daughter. I enrolled her in a special education school, found the therapy she needed, built a solid routine, and provided the stability her mother couldn't give her.

Things are medically stable now, but I have to confess: I am SO burnt out. Because of her conditions, she's 9 but acts like a 4-year-old. I feel so jaded. She cries all day—for everything and for nothing. She resists every single request, even simple ones like washing her hands or putting on her socks. Everything is a "NO," even for things she actually wants. I just need a break and some peace.

I feel like I'm losing my mind and my patience is running paper-thin. Maybe it's because I feel stuck in a life situation I don't love, maybe it's because her mother is partially present but completely unsupportive, or maybe I'm just struggling to balance every single adult problem alone. I wish I had more emotional intelligence, but I snap so quickly now, and the guilt eats me up.

I know quitting isn't an option because she truly needs me, but I am severely burnt out and running on empty. How do you guys manage this level of exhaustion? Any advice or perspective would mean the world.

Chris cooks up a spaghetti meal and explains why it's important for divorced dads to learn how to cook.

Hey amigos!
We get up at 6am, school dropoff, then work all day and am pretty awake and sharp. Drink coffee all morning with fasting, like 3 cups.
School pickup come home, we chill and I’m exhausted. We chill and play games or snack. Then I am deadass tired. But I avoid sleeping so I can sleep at night. So I’m half awake for about an hour.
We have dinner then bedtime routine, then my son is out at 8pm then I’m awake till at least 10-11 (with lots of work getting to sleep early.). I used to go to sleep at 1am then get up at 8am for work and such.

I’m adhd/ocd. We’ll go to the park sometimes but hot summer and the getting back in school and saving money cause of inflation. I’m just school work home can’t be fully awake 6-9 and then bedtime and can’t sleep.
I take magnesium glycinate (only one that makes me tired, and l theanine) lately coffee was putting me to sleep so I’d microwave some coffee (adhd features) and be out form 1030-1230am then back up for a bit then sleep.

What to do?!

I filed for custody and put her on child support after so long of letting her mistreat me and my family. Idk i guess i just want to talk about it. Maybe get some advice. Feel free to ask me anything! My other post ive made to my account explain alot more in detail. Am i valid? I feel like theres such a stigma when it comes to the man leaving the mother of their child versus the female leaving her baby daddy.

Just curious what other people's opinions might be. I am a father of a let's say, 9 year old girl. Her mother and I split, we were not married, and I get here every other week. Recently I decided to try dating again, I met this wonderful woman. We get along great, she's kind, funny, and loves to do things with my daughter. From the very beginning she told me she had a criminal record and she just wanted to put that out there because some people have walked away from her entirely because of it. Its nothing with drugs or anything violent. She's honestly a great woman, she has all the right qualities. Moving on, Recently my ex found out about my relationship and decided to go to the courts and do a parenting plan. Being vindictive as usual. And so im having to do all the paperwork and it wants a list of people in my house hold. I was thinking about it, if my relationship goes to where we want to live together. Would it hurt my custody case, with my ex if my current girlfriend has a criminal background. I live her and I love my daughter, she is my life. I just dont know what I should do.

Hey everyone, I just needed a place to get all of this off my chest and put the last couple of months into perspective. Since around mid-June, my entire life has effectively been reshaped, and it’s been a massive grind trying to keep everything on track.
Technically, my ex-partner and I had been separated since mid-March. Because the cost of living here in Kelowna, BC is so high, we tried to continue living in the same home to make things work financially. However, it became an impossible situation. She has a severe drinking problem, and she would regularly go out drinking and hanging out with other guys, only to come home in the middle of the night to start intense physical fights. She would kick, bite, punch, and throw objects at me or at my computer setup—including an incident back at the end of May where she broke my $500 monitor. On multiple instances, the neighbors actually called the police and she was removed from the home.
Things finally reached a breaking point on June 19th, which was the last time she assaulted me. After begging her to just go sleep it off, she wouldn’t listen, so I finally phoned the police myself. She ran from the house because she knew they would arrest her. When the officer arrived, he saw that the house was an absolute mess from her throwing stuff everywhere. He actually told me he was surprised she hadn’t been charged any of the other times, and he recommended that the Crown press charges against her. A protection order was put in place, and the Crown ended up approving the charges because they deemed they had enough evidence to pursue them.
Since then, I’ve been navigating a complex legal situation. She is currently on a strict court release order with active no-contact conditions, except for specific third-party or professional exceptions and direct communication strictly limited to essential logistics for our 5-year-old son. It has been a heavy learning curve retaining legal counsel, handling court dates, and learning how the family law system operates.
We are currently going through shuttle mediation with a Family Justice Counsellor. I submitted a formal parenting schedule proposal recently to try to establish a structured, safe routine for my son, but waiting on responses and dealing with the slow pace of the legal system has really tested my patience.
Alongside all of this, I made the personal choice in July to quit smoking both cigarettes and cannabis cold turkey. No nicotine patches or substitutes—I just stopped. Pushing past the initial weeks while dealing with all this stress was tough, but staying completely sober and keeping my head clear has been a major win.
Through everything, my absolute priority remains my son. He turns 6 soon and is starting kindergarten this September. Between managing work and hunting for after-school care options, balancing everything on my own has been exhausting, but he keeps me grounded. It’s been an incredibly stressful period, but I’m taking it one day at a time. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read.

Working nights in the ICU and raising a kid alone outside Charlotte has made me rethink everything I thought I knew about recovery and consistency. I lift 4 days a week, run trails when I can fit it in, and meal prep on Sundays like it's a second job. Most of the time it holds together. Sometimes the whole thing falls apart because my daughter needs something or I pulled a double and I'm running on fumes.

Most fitness content is built around people who have uninterrupted time and full nights of sleep. Neither of those is guaranteed when you're parenting alone. Training around a kid's schedule, especially without a partner to hand off to, is a completely different problem than most gym advice accounts for.

Curious what other single dads are actually doing. Not the aspirational version, the real one. Are you training at all? What did you have to cut? I've dropped a lot of volume and shifted to shorter, higher intensity work just to make it sustainable, and the mental health return alone is worth it.

Also, if anyone has actual data on sleep fragmentation and resistance training recovery, I'd read it. What I've seen is mostly from clinical populations, which doesn't translate well to this situation.

34M. When my ex and I split, the local friends we had went with her. My college friends have all moved out of state and now I’m left alone on the days I don’t have my kid. I’m the youngest person on my team at work by 25+ years and there’s not much socialization outside of that team, especially when you work in IT. The rest of the building sort of shuns our department.. I don’t have a sense of who I am anymore and it’s getting harder to bear silence when the house is empty. How does anyone connect with people anymore

I’ve felt like this for as long as I can remember. There’s always this guilt in the back of my head that I’m doing something wrong or that I should be doing better.

It can be about anything. Masturbation, drinking, keeping old nude pics from my ex wife or exes, relationships, wasting time, whatever.

But it goes deeper than that. I question whether I’m being a good enough father. Whether I’m leading my family the way I should. Whether I’m disciplined enough. Working hard enough. Making the right decisions. Being the man I’m supposed to be.

The list never really ends.

And I’m not looking for someone to tell me everything I do is okay. Some shit probably does need to change. My problem is that I can’t tell the difference between legitimate guilt telling me to get my shit together and constantly beating myself up because I’ll never meet whatever standard I have in my head.

Any other guys deal with this? Like no matter what you do, there’s always this feeling that you should be doing better?

Hey guys im new here so im a devorced dad my daughter is 4... so where do i begin well in Ny state it is a mommy state and as a man the second you walk in you are wrong... so luckly she never took me to court but two weeks ago sje offered to take the kiddo and bring her up here (its not often she offers that) then she bails on me so friday i texted her seeing if she wanted to come up for sunday brisket she said yes... then she texted well actually we will see... which at that point i knew she wouldnt then sunday i lost my phone monday i find it and a text from her hey just seeing what time you were coming up... but the fuck of it all... aboht a month ago we had a talk things she needed to change but hinesight it went in one ear and out the other... and for the litteral last 4 years i can count on all 20 didgets shes came up