i have posted before about dd, and i need some outsider opinions on whether i’ve let too much slide. If you know the story fast forward to the end if you want
She was a good student in primary school and year 7 and majority of year 8, i did split with her dad over the summer of year 7 whilst pregnant with my youngest (he ended things with me) but we still remained living together and not alot changed initially for any of us, we were still in the same bed etc. But dd’s behaviour change in 2024 coincided with her knowing that her dad was going to move out soon and her meeting her bf.
She was instantly a different child, she stopped handing in homework, her attitude towards school changed and she was getting detentions for rudeness, she was truanting lessons with her bf and she skipped school a few times (she got the bus so she’d leave as normal but didn’t go). She came home having smoked weed with him the once she was 14 and i wasn’t happy . We weren’t getting along and after an argument dd went to live with her dad where she got more freedom due to his work schedule and was able to invite the bf over whenever
He’s her now ex and he doesn’t have a good home life , he lives with his dad and older brothers and it seems choatic and he often says his dad doesn’t care where he is or what he does , i’ve only spoken to him once and he said how did he know that his son was the dad and called dd a slag. he’s never met the baby and her ex has said he’s not even said anything. they had a toxic relationship theud break up and the next minute theud be in love again etc, maybe this was normal teens but i don’t know. He would also promise to do better after every breakup but it was always the same. He didn’t treat her very good during the pregnancy when they were together and dd broke up with him after catching him out in a lie. he didn’t like being caught out and wouldn’t leave her alone, he’d wait at her bus stop and get his friends to bully her etc. This causes a lot of anxiety towards the end of her pregnancy which she didn’t need
He’s not at school anymore but i don’t know whether he’s just not going or something happened as in exclusion or something, he has just said he’s doesn’t go anymore and school obviously can’t telll me due to data protection.
Now dd is 15, he’s 14 and their baby is 7 weeks (already!), after the bullying i thought he wasn’t going to be involved and i was happy tbh although dd said she wanted him to be as he is the only other person who can relate being the baby’s father. He ended up being at the birth with dd’s dad due to circumstances
Since then he’s been over pretty often, he came over on mother’s day and brought dd chocolate from the baby and he then cried to dd about how he missed his mum (she is still alive but he doesn’t see her and she doesn’t know she has a grandchild) i flick between being angry at how he treated dd and then feeling sorry for him and in that moment i felt sorry for him. He then seemed embarrassed and apologised to dd for crying and looking stupid and told her not to tell anyone and his dad would kill him if he found out he was crying especially over his mum
THE REASON IM POSTING
Since then i’ve been feeling more sorry for him but still slightly cynical that he wants dd back and that’s the reason he’s coming over and not for baby. I’ve been allowing him to come over more regularly and he’s slept over a handful of times too. DD is bottle feeding now so he gets up and gives baby a bottle when he’s sleeping over. I don’t believe they’re back together although they did go to nandos together with a gift card he had and dd did tell me he has said he’d like them to get back together but she hasn’t given him a proper answer as she wants to focus on the baby and not him especially as their relationship would be different to before and other teens and she wasn’t sure he realised that. im not sure he’ll still be involved if he gets a new gf though.
This past week i’ve allowed him to come over during the day as it’s the holidays so whatever the school situation is he’s not supposed to be there anyway and they usually do their own thing with baby here or they go for walks etc, today i went to the park with my younger dx to meet a friend and we got chatting, she asked how dd was and i said she was ok and she was home with the baby and she was tired but her ex was sleeping over tonight so she should get a better sleep if he helps and my friend was horrified and said they’re still children at the end of the day and “baby #2 will soon be here”
Have I made a total mistake?? I want to keep lines open with dd as in the past she went to her dads and we didn’t have a good relationship at all so i still want to keep her close but im finding this difficult to navigate as yes she’s a child but she’s also a mum