Thats is so digusting to teach to achild. To not share their toys...its awful! Its one thing is you dont want to share because you know that child will break their toy but another thing for what this BM and her bf has done. Can you imagine, they are playing nintendo and your kids just have to sit and watch? How F' cruel is this? DISGUSTING.! I would have told her on the phone, you want it, come and get it yourself! and explain to your son the dirty selfishness yourself! I would have also told my SS this: If you can't share what you have, then dont play at all:. Those are the rules in my house. All the kids, ANYONE, cousins, anyone has to share the game station. If they can't...they dont play. My friends kids came over to play and they were fighting...i shut the game off. Too bad! such is life. I also do not buy big ticket items like this for kids of certain ages , as to not give them power. My SD asked for a very expensive item, i refused to buy it....she tends not to share and we police in our house when the kids do play to make sure all of them have their fair share of time playing. My SS plays with a hand held game device of my DS. i dont mind. As long as there is respect of the items. If he ever was to break things and continually do so is when i would just put it in the closet when he visits..but i've never had to do that. He is really good with not breaking things and respecting others property. This is a big moral issue from my perspective. I think you should enforce yoru belief under your household. As for sharing, other things, if the child doesn't want to, i wont force dolls or any car item...but gamestations are different in my household. All have time with it or none.

That was written to be rhetorical. Obviously nobody gets married expecting to get divorced. You would have stayed with a cheater? Nobody wants their child to go through a custody battle or having to grow up in two homes. It's not what we dreamed of as little girls. But in reality, we have to make the best of our situation that we are in. I don't know what kind of work you do, but as long as you are able bodied and not relying on a fixed amount check (like social security or disability), then there ARE options, like changing the kind of work you do, where you can make more, etc. I had my first child at 17 and went back to get my HS diploma when I was 19 (and 9 months pregnant with my 2nd child at graduation) i had my 3rd child at 21 and by 22 I was left alone to raise my kids. I rode the transit bus to the community college to attend classes & walked with the stroller to get groceries. I also worked minimum wage jobs and got rides or walked until I finally saved up enough to buy a clunker. When I was 23 or 24, I got together with a guy that had custody of his 3 kids. I worked at Target (for just over minimum wage) while I went to school. He was a police officer that worked graveyard shift so I got the kids up and off to school, then I went to school, then to work. He was home when they got home from school & he would feed them dinner. I got home and put them to bed while he got ready for work and left. Eventually I got a job with the Department of Social Services and continued college. Our relationship fell apart when I was 29 and found out he had no intention of marrying me and I had raised his kids for almost 7 years(their mom was MIA). The hardest part of leaving was worrying I wouldn't survive financially. I never received any child support for my kids. I worked full time (4 -10 hour days) and that gave me a 3 day weekend, so I worked a part time then. Almost four years ago, I resigned & cashed out my retirement account. I used it to start my own company and I've been doing that for three years now. It's been very tough, I've only been married for a year. When I met him almost three years ago, he made more than twice what I did. He still makes about the same as he did then & I am now making more than him. If I had stayed in my old job with vacation/sick days and insurance/retirement benefits, I would be making about a third what I make now. So, I don't believe ANYONE that works has a "fixed" income. (and I am running my company, caring for my step mom and my 8 year old step daughter full time too)

rosemaryt, you have a tough situation and my heart goes out to you. Best wishes in a successful resolution to the problem. This is a very frustrating thread to read. People screaming for you to go commit a felony makes me just shake my head in disbelief. Laws vary from state to state so when you get "armchair lawyers", including myself, giving you advice, take it for ideas only since your situation will vary. A few things do come to mind though. First, the police are sympathetic and in fact, that's good for the public as a whole but doesn't help for this situation. Now you need a "hot dog" cop, but the problem is to find one. There are other options though, again however it varies in different jurisdictions. One is a "citizen complaint", "criminal complaint" or citizen's arrest. You need guidance to do this properly and if appropriate but seems to me that it could in this case. I'd doubt very highly you'd get him committed for evaluation with the adverse positions of the doctor and social worker. However if he is truly senile, and it's documented, then a guardianship is a definite possibility. But an involuntary guardianship is not easy, and rightly so. But you might be able to propose a temporary guardianship, a conservatorship or something to get a start. This won't be quick most likely, but is an option to consider. In MN, starting a guardianship proceeding would be more likely to get an eval ordered. Again, your state will vary. I hope you're paying no attention to the fools who suggest that you will be financially responsible for his actions. Good grief where do people get these ideas? That's stupid, plain and simple. C'mon folks, she needs help, support and ideas, not ridiculous ramblings. I suppose someone will running offended and I'll get a friendly reminder but so be it. It needed to be said. Likewise that you'll force a cop to do something, that you can sue the cops if something happens down the road and well, it's a highly emotional situation and obviously many people aren't thinking clearly. People watch too much "Boston Legal" or something and want to threaten to sue for anything thinking that people will cringe and fold. It may work with someone who doesn't know better, but threatening people that know better doesn't do anything more than make the person making the threat look like a complete idiot. Don't get caught up in that. It won't work. Also, I agree you should keep the insurance on the vehicle. I'd even go so far as to make sure the vehicles are, in fact insured. You insure the vehicle primarily so if in fact he has no valid license likely won't affect the insurance at least until he gets into an accident or ticket, at which time the company likely would cancel the coverage. Newspapers, TV, radio, media as a whole... well, this isn't a huge story in news terms but someone might be interested. But I think I'd pursue it with low expectations. Disabling the car hasn't worked. So you need a different plan of attack. Take a deep breath and try to relax. I know it's easier said than done though. Obviously you can't be following him around all over, first because you don't have the time and secondly you could be guilty of stalking if he is angry enough to push it, which he may well be. But a private security firm or private investigator is able to, but of course that will cost something. They can gather evidence, video his operation and even be able to make a complaint, though I'm not sure that many would want to get that involved. I could contact my former PI firm and see if they have any suggestions but since the laws vary, I think you'd be better off to seek some guidance locally. Most good places won't charge you to talk to you about the case and give you some ideas. Again, my best to you and yours. If I think of anything else I'll post again. I know what a tough situation it is. And my experience wasn't quite as drastic as yours, though my dad should have quit driving 20 years earlier. But that's a whole different story.

Destined....thanks for your last couple of posts. By "plenty of money", do you mean she has enough resources to be able to live comfortably in an independent or assisted living facility? It is good that she is able to hire a cleaning person and someone to take care of her yard. I am not near her age yet (73), but am looking into places that I (and not my kids) would like to live when the time comes that I need help. So far, I am able to take care of myself, but I NEVER want to burden my children, except in an emergency. Two years ago, I built a new home....fully handicapped accessible, hoping with all new things, I will be able to stay here for many more years. Some days, I think it might be nice to live in an assisted living facility....someone to cook my meals, people to visit with, clean my house, and a bus to take me to outings...and with all the taxes, insurance, utilities, food, etc., it would not be much more than owning this house. I am a very social person and it does get very lonely at times since my DH passed away, but I realize the kids have their own lives and do not visit as often as I would like......but that is life! Is there a reason why you can not get your groceries when your mom gets hers? Take a book or magazine when you take her to her hair dresser...but cherish time you are able to spend with her while you have her...you will never be sorry. My mother had ALZ...and for many, many years, her mind was gone...oh my, talk about hard! We finally had to put her in a NH after she had some bad strokes and was more than we children could handle...so I know the heartache of being a caregiver also. Blessings to you....hang in there...and this too shall pass.