I got to talk to my daughter on my first day off,
I suppose you could say I set her up for it, but
I wasnt letting the talk go any longer, I was in bed
having a lie in we call it, they are on midterm break,
so I knew eventually she would come in for a snuggle.

I opened the conversation about her dad very simply,
I told her as I was rostered on for St Patricks day,
I had suggested to her dad they spend the day with him,
I told her he was pleased and was going to organise something
for them to do for the day.

In fairness I got the response my
foreknowledge warned me to expect. I dont want to go,
Im not bothered,
So I told her it was important she spent time with her dad
when she gets the opportunity, she said no,
she didnt see it that way, she wasnt bothered.
I told her her brother had told me what dad had
said in the car two weeks ago, and she immediately started to cry,
I asked her was this what had upset her for the last two weeks, and
she nodded yes, she had a good cry and we had a good talk.

She said it wasnt up to her to tell me
that sort of information, and that
she had hoped her brother would, but she thought
her dad should have, that
he shouldnt have put them in that position,
I hugged her and told her, her
dad was not thinking straight and a very selfish stupid man,
but he loved them
he loved her, she said no I dont think he does,
I think he just thinks of himself,
we no longer matter.
I hate him!

I said you dont hate him you are just hurting
she said no mam, I know the difference, I
know how Im feeling.

That broke my heart, and then she said
dont try and make excuses for him, he doesnt deserve it,
so I didnt, but I hugged her again,
and just chatted about her feelings,
I also told her she should talk to me,
dont hold things in dont be afraid to tell me stuff,

I asked her, If you were pregnant,
(no boyfriend on sight yet thank god)
would you come to me and tell me, she laughed,
then went yeah probably,
I think so, so I said to her,
if you can tell your mother she is going
to be a granny, you can tell her anything,
so we laughed and cried and
more hugging.

I asked her was it okay if I called her dad,
and talked to him about this and what had happened
she was happy with this, which I was glad of, because
I wanted to make him aware that his words had an
affect on these kids, and he had to treat them like
kids not adults, and to be careful to keep me in his
loop.

Of course I probably wanted to kick his ass, also,
but that wasnt an option, so after an hour or two,
I called him,
and we talked...