Dead Beat Dads Suck

My kids are blessed to have a wonderful father. Two of my first cousins Alyse and Marci are not so blessed. Their biological father, for lack of a better way of saying it, is the scum of the earth.

He and my aunt got pregnant with Marci while they were dating. They married. Then, a couple years later, they had Alyse. The girls are now 11 and 13. About a year and a half ago, my aunt discovered her husband was cheating on her with a younger woman. He decided to have a child with this other woman and moved in with her. He stopped giving any money to my aunt (or his two daughters) and basically disappeared. So, my aunt met with a divorce lawyer, borrowing money to pay for the lawyer's initial fees.

They've been tied up in court ever since then, mostly fighting over the house, which is paid for. Temporarily, my aunt can continue living in the house with the girls. During her marriage to this jerk, my aunt never worked. Instead, she took care of the kids, cleaned the house, and that's about it. The judged ordered her husband to pay for the power bill, the phone bill, and a measly $200 a month for other necessities until the divorce is final. Then, child support will kick in... theoretically. My aunt managed to find a job, but it's not a high paying job, and the bills still don't get fully paid. Oh, and the cad doesn't even send in what he's supposed to. When she has something come up, it's a struggle to make ends meet. Like recently, the heater stopped working on her car. It's in the 20s and 30s where she lives. They have to drive a good 15-30 minutes to get almost everywhere they go. She has no way of paying for car repairs, no recourse at all. Does he help? No.

All my aunt can do is file a complaint with the judge that he didn't pay his required amounts. She has filed these reports over and over again. Did I mention this man is the scum of the earth?!? Well, it gets worse. On a special occasion, his youngest daughter called him. She wanted a new outfit to wear at a special event. He used profanity to refuse her plea. SCUM OF THE EARTH.

Having grown up in a loving family with a wonderful father and seeing the love my own husband has for our kids, I do not understand what in the world makes a man treat his children this way.