Alpha Step At A Time #5

[alpha99]

Well, that's the point I'm reaching. She is their mum and they love her, and I would never want to deprive her from seeing them or even having them.

However, in recent weeks I've picked my daughter up and she has had sleep in her eyes, snot falling out of her nose. W informed me yesterday she is behind on some bills, has lost some of the kids' school uniforms. My S informed me he spends most of his time in his room.

In other words she is very unorganised, not very 'motherly' in the normal sense, and is using her apparent desire to be a better mum to fund her socialising lifestyle from the child benefits she receives.

I don't think the kids are in immediate danger in the sense that she would ever deliberately harm them, just that they don't get the attention they deserve, and the attention they would get from me. Again, W is using the kids as a reason to cut work hours, use their benefit money to go on nights out, and then complain to me how hard life is.

I can't afford a solicitor right now to fight this. Due to UK cuts in legal aid I don't see the possibility of getting any help there, but I have started to build up a file of evidence on W that I may use at some point not too far off in the future as part of a child custody claim.