Man regrets opening home to former wife
Dear Abby: My ex-wife cheated on me five years ago. She ran off with a nonworking criminal type and has been bouncing from place to place with this bozo ever since.
When they and their 3-year-old became homeless two weeks ago, all of a sudden she showed up at my door shoeless and with their son in a diaper. She said her boyfriend was abusive and asked to stay with me until she finds a place. I agreed under the provision that she not see this guy.
I am a hard-working single father of two. I know my heart is two sizes too big for my own good sometimes, and I don’t want to be taken advantage of. Abby, did I make the right choice? Or should I have told her she was not welcome and turned her and her son away?
I really feel I shouldn’t have to help her, and she should rely on her loser boyfriend — who she has started seeing again. I need guidance and your expert advice. Am I an idiot?
— Confused
I just finished reading the letter from “Cafe Crazy” (Jan. 4), about the woman changing the baby on the restaurant’s table. You advised that she should have taken the baby to the ladies’ room to change it on a changing table there, and if there wasn’t one, there should be.
I am a stay-at-home father and many times have had to resort to an awkward changing table alternative to accomplish the task (though never a restaurant table) as there are very few changing tables in men’s rooms. In these dynamic, diverse and changing economic times, the ability to stay home and raise my children has been awesome, and I would do it over again in a heartbeat. It has been hard, however, because society still assumes that raising children is a woman’s job. Not only should there have been a changing table in the ladies’ room, but also one in the men’s room.
Abby, please help us proud papas to raise our children with the same facilities allowed the mommas of the world!
— Grant in Sunnywale, Calif.