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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to wonder if contact is always in the best interests of the child

177 replies

paddleduck · 24/07/2014 09:58

Before I start I should say, I have no first hand experience, obviously do not know these people personally and accept my opinion may be unreasonable given the above.

Yesterday I took my dc to a soft play with some friends. While there a set of grandparents came in, closely followed by a couple and another boy of school age. The grandad was carrying a little girl of about 3 or 4 who was hysterical. She looked petrified and was clinging to her grandpa with white hands. She couldn't breathe for her sobs and she was drenched in her own tears. She just kept screaming 'I want to go home' 'no no no' and whenever the man from the couple approaches her, she begins screaming 'no please.. go away.. Don't want you!'

I found it so difficult to listen to her sobs, it really made my heart ache for her. Her grandparents kept cuddling her and talking softly, periodically trying to put her down and encourage her to engage with this couple. The woman part of said couple just kept standing around with her hands in her pockets rolling her eyes and huffing, man kept doing silly faces etc trying to engage little girl.

Any who, my friend visits this softplay weekly and said she'd explain when we left.

Friend explains that it is 'contact' .. The man is her dad. Woman is new wife and school child is new wife's son from previous relationship. Older couple are paternal grandparents. Dad was violent and hurt the little girls mum, so they have split and grandparents meet with the dad for supervised contact weekly. She says this softplay scenario happens every week for around 8 months now, with the little girl being distraught at every visit. - she knows this because the mother of the little girl is her aunties life long friend.

I found the whole thing so upsetting to watch and haven't stopped thinking of that little girl. The more I consider the situation the more I feel that after so long of these awful contact sessions, it would be in the child's best interests for the dad to leave her alone. To remain contactable for when she is older, if she wants to.. but that if a child finds being in your presence that distressing then that's not good to keep putting g her through that. I understand how difficult that would be as a parent. . But I almost felt it was selfish of him to keep pushing her like that. Long term she will anticipate the meetings with anxiety and they may never make progress like this? Of course he could have just not been a violent partner in the first place Hmm and my disgust over knowing what he's done makes me want to say he doesn't deserve access.. but if he's getting it someone obviously deems him not a risk to the little girl right? And presumably he has PR

Anyway. . Am I bu to think he should walk away?

OP posts:
Aeroflotgirl · 25/07/2014 17:59

He is still a paedophile

kawliga · 25/07/2014 18:14

unfortunately I can't see a way of stopping women like that without making people like me suffer.

Adikia you are right - women who lie or oppose contact for trivial reasons cause the system to make life difficult for all women, even the genuine majority of mothers who are truly trying to safeguard their dc.

MN plays a role in this. Every time mothers come on here to say should I stop contact because I already booked the holiday and now he's saying we can't go - or something like that - people pile in saying what a wanker he doesn't deserve to see the dc. I am not talking about cases where there is some element of emotional abuse, I'm talking about pure cases of inconvenience and disappointment. Children are disappointed when plans don't work out but disappointment is not emotional abuse. A mother can say 'I see that you are disappointed, I'm sorry it didn't work out'. Because life's like that, things don't always work out. It is no reason to stop contact. I do not think non-res fathers should be held to a higher standard than resident fathers who OFTEN get parenting wrong and nobody snatches their dc away.

Just to clarify I'm not including SEN cases when disappointment or having the plans changed can be hugely damaging to the dc.

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