Sorry if this has been done to death......but can we go round the group and introduce ourselves (please?)

[curlygal]

Hello

There seems to be a good group of single parents around at the moment so I was wondering if we could all say hello and state our business so that I can try and keep track of who's who?

I only recently got internet at home so I am sure that I will be contributing (and occassionally ranting) more often so I'd like to formally introduce myself, well here goes....

I'm curlygal, I'm 35 and I live in Edinburgh with DS who is three. I work part time yet am still constantly exhausted. Most of my friends are married and the few single ones I have don;t have children so I feel pretty isolated and as if I am the only single parent in Edinburgh sometimes! Add to that the fact that my Ex is "challenging" to say the least and I could really use some support from like minded single parents, so please step up and say hello

If no one answers this thread I will actually cry as have had the day from hell (but please don;t let my intense neediness influence you

Message withdrawn

I'm Slastrophe, aged 32, moved out in Dec, 2 boys aged 4 and 1. Ex-p ok but not helping me financially. Live in Bath, where are you Goth? Was working but currently squashed by credit crunch...

30, dd aged 6.. been here for an eternity, been on my own with dd since she was 6 motnsh

everybody most people know my story so won't bore everybody with the details again

am very vocal on how fab it is being a single parent but not aorund as much as I used to be for various reasons

Hi everyone, I'm over 40 and have a dd 15 and ds 13 (help)!. I got divorced when they were very young their dad is a complete twunt. He's still in their lives. I've just come out of a subsequent very long term relationship. Long story.

I work full time and live in London.

Nice to meet you all. Too exhausted most of the time to socialise MN is my friend!

Forgot to say - don't get any financial support from exh or exp whatsover. Ho hum.

Im Emily - have one DD who is 2, live alone in East Anglia with DD, currently studdying full time doing an English degree at a local Uni - dating a beautiful man who my friends have dubbed Mr darcy - am hoping to travel with him this summer and moving in together in the autumn.

XP is a prat - abusive, violent - and hopefully no where near me or DD ever again... (well I can only hope!!)

well im Mamazon. been here for a while but certainly not a moldie. doubt you'll recognise me as i hardly ever post anything

left my childrens father 4 years ago. i have DS 8 and DD 4. Ds has Sn (asd)

we live near Gatwick
Im a social worker but am currently a SAHM.

Hi emily - am also EA based, near Cambs

Hi i'm WTAP and new to all this. I've been a single parent for a whole 3 months and surprised by the fact that it doesn't seem much different to when my DH still lived with us! I guess that tells me how much help he has been over the last few years. I have 2DS's. DS1 is 2 and DS2 is 3 months today.

DH left when DS2 was 4 weeks old. I'm 29 and work part time from home. DH is an immature, coldhearted bar steward and I hope he rots in hell. I have just started divorce proceedings (can you tell? lol).

Sorry its all quite fresh and raw and I go from coping brilliantly to having days when I wish he was dead. I still can't get my head around how someone can leave their 4 week old baby. anyway i'll stop ranting hijacking and let the next person introduce themselves

Hi all - I'm Katie -( younger than my bones and older than my teeth!) from London and single mum to b/g twins.

Been on my tod since the kids were six months old - former journalist and not worked since before they were born but currently training to be a teacher and wondering where I left my brain.

Get no help financial or otherwise from ex-h who is not British and was deported from the UK in December 2007. Great for me - not so great for the kids!

Nice to meet you all

hi, i'm elmo. got ds(almost 3yo) and dd (18month) threw an emotionally abusive gambling addict ex dp out house 2 weeks before xmas. i moved out last weekend after being practically forced out by exdp family.

have never been more relaxed and in control of my life. feeling like the young independant woman i once was again. and it shows in my dc who have never been happier either.

bc i was a bar manager. just waiting on csa forcing exdp to put his hand in pocket and once that sorted and ds in nursery i shall be looking to retrain. no idea what i want to do with my life yet.

oh and i'm in west lothian.

I'm leslaki, live in Northampton and single mum to 2 dcs - 5 and 6. Going through a nasty divorce at the moment and exh's behaviour has been in extreme! has psycho Ow and we are in process of trying to sort out a contact centre for him to see Dc as he and OW were putting them in danger . Work full time and part time so always knackered!!!! Love life without XH - so much easier!!!

Hi all, I am another long-time lurker, seldom poster. Living in Herts, separated from my twunt in October, have DS 5 and DD 3. Currently out of work, thinking about teaching - kdk, if you have any advice, would be gratefully received!

Nice to know you all, even if this does feel like everyone standing around at a party, clutching their drinks for dear life, surreptitiously eyeing up what everyone else is wearing and envying the one who looks really super-confident ...

Oh, and I'm 43 and spend far too much of my life watching The West Wing.

lol at super confident.
If we were at a party I think we might have mobbed RG by now.

kyrasmummy really really really didn't mean to make you feel bad! sorry god why am i SUCH a muppet!
(((((((((((((kyrasmummy))))))))))

Point out to the court the age of said girlfriend could be a good idea.

Sorry again didn't mean to cause any upset, my job tends to make me supersensitive to issues like that!

I'm (nearly) 34, live in Bucks with my 5 year old ds. I have been a single parent since my ds was 1, although exh left twice in the first year too. Am (finally!) feeling fairly sorted, although I have to find a job that will pay the bills and I'm scared to death of that....

Relationship with exh is minimal and, therefore, civil. He has a dp that my ds cannot stand, and luckily / unluckily (?!) for us, the feeling appears to be mutual, so she keeps out of his way.

Exh was/is a total banana, who thought that the grass was greener...life has come back to bite him though, hurrah! (mean emoticon!).

I also, having previewed this, appear to use punctuation and brackets excessively...

ok. i need to vent. sorry for interrupting introductions.

when i threw exdp out he went to live with his wife (seperated but not divorced a few year before met me)

got everyone to lie about where he was staying.

told me he was staying at sisters and then at a flat.

only owned up when someone thought i deserved to know and told me where he was staying.

since i've moved out he's only stayed in our old home (which i was elbowed out of with dc as exdp family said it was his home as we were not married and i must let him come home) for 1 night.

thats right

1 night. he's still staying with wife.

he says he's not staying with her. he's apparently staying with his other grown up kids who live in the house. his wife just happens to be there

he says he's not back together with her. just doesn't want to go to our old house as it too "empty" without me or dc.

i dont care if he's back together. just absolutely raging that he got everyone to make such a muppet of me and lie to me.

Another lurker here. I'm Traineetoddlertrainer. 41 (how?!) and mother to DS of 2 1/2.

Live nr. Gatwick. Work 4 days /week doing odd freelancy things. Left XP when DS was 10 months. By some miracle have passingly civil relationship with him, after, oooh, after a year of abuse after I left (which was, unsuprisingly, the reason I left in the first place). No cash tho

Hello all..

I'm in Cambridge and I have 3 dc's, dd nearly 7, ds1 5, and ds2 just 2.

Long time lone parent here. I'm very nearly 34 and ds is nearly 10. I work full time which has honed my organisational skills but occasionally the plates fall to the floor spectacularly.
XP is a real twunt and a bully. He sees his son regularly and for a short while he paid some maintenance on the advice of his solicitor but he has since stopped that and bought a puppy instead.

Hi, Im in derbyshire, have 2 ds 8 and 9. Got relocated here by H and then dumped after I found out about his affair. Have just got a job working full time with 3 hours commuting. Must got to bed before I drop dead from fatigue.

Ps am 43 feel 105.........

& for you Elmo.

Have you had some legal advice regarding the house? If he isn't living there would you want to?

It sounds as if he has taken an easy option (whatever the current status of his relationship with his exw is ). His family's behaviour and lack of support is awful too...

Try to stay positive (if possible). As you said earlier, you are regaining your independence, and your dc are benefitting from it already. Don't let his rubbish behaviour set you back.

You are not a muppet, btw, give yourself a pat on the back for achieving everything you have so far .

Evening!
im a seriously blonde moment or asbm
so named after having one which my best friend kindly pointed out!
I'm divorced and live in the Midlands with my 3 dcs

Hello everyone!

Thank you all so much for your posts. agree it did feel a bit like an AA meeting or a party.

Hopefully we can all share our knowledge and experiences and support each other, and listen to any rants about Ex partners!

CJ - so glad to meet another WW fan. I am a total addict too, my evenings are spent with my ww dvd collection and a glass of cava. Have you seen studio 60? I got the DVD v cheaply on amazon and it is FAB why on earth it was cancelled I do not know.

Anyway, thank you all again for posting. Cheered me up and made me able to cope with my crap day.

I'm up waiting for BBC news to show Obama's speech again as I missed it the first time.

Did any one else snigger at Dick Cheeny (sp) and his injury sustained by carrying his own bags