Advice for single, separated, and divorced parents . . . .
. . . from a dispute resolution professional (that would be me).
People, please: DO NOT talk trash about the other parent on your MySpace page! Just stop it, right now. It will get back to the other parent, and it won't help. I promise you it won't help. And I realize you need to confide in someone about what a deadbeat your child's other parent is, but:
1. Confide means confide, as in one person who promises not to spread it around, not the whole internets; and
2. It is really not necessary to tell anyone exactly how much you are owed in back child support. Your lawyer and Support Enforcement can figure it out for themselves, and nobody else needs to know. Really. They don't. Your brain is not going to asplode if you keep the number to yourself.
Your friends are not helping when they walk up to your child's other parent at his or her workplace and ask him/her questions about this thing they saw on your MySpace page. You might want to mention that to them. Which brings me back to -- leave this shit off your MySpace page in the first place, so they aren't tempted.
I should keep a tally of how many people come into my office and complain about the other parent's MySpace page. I've had at least three of those so far. I wish parents had to be licensed.
Have I mentioned how much straight people make me tired? Probably not yet today.
People, please: DO NOT talk trash about the other parent on your MySpace page! Just stop it, right now. It will get back to the other parent, and it won't help. I promise you it won't help. And I realize you need to confide in someone about what a deadbeat your child's other parent is, but:
1. Confide means confide, as in one person who promises not to spread it around, not the whole internets; and
2. It is really not necessary to tell anyone exactly how much you are owed in back child support. Your lawyer and Support Enforcement can figure it out for themselves, and nobody else needs to know. Really. They don't. Your brain is not going to asplode if you keep the number to yourself.
Your friends are not helping when they walk up to your child's other parent at his or her workplace and ask him/her questions about this thing they saw on your MySpace page. You might want to mention that to them. Which brings me back to -- leave this shit off your MySpace page in the first place, so they aren't tempted.
I should keep a tally of how many people come into my office and complain about the other parent's MySpace page. I've had at least three of those so far. I wish parents had to be licensed.
Have I mentioned how much straight people make me tired? Probably not yet today.