dad unmasked

The little baby you see here is not a baby anymore.

She is 8 years old today!

I cannot believe my baby girl is 8. She is growing up fast and is so smart and mature. She’s my first baby girl and I love her so much. I am so proud to be the father of such a wonderful girl.

Happy Birthday Sweetie! Daddy loves you.

8 I said!

…double hairstyling duty. I often struggle with this because, “Daddy! What are you doing?!? My hair looks crazy like that! You’re not doing it right!” Drama.

...there will ALWAYS be fashion issues. Simply getting up in the morning and getting dressed is never going to happen. Picking out clothes and shoes will always been an event. An epic one.

…everything is a competition. I am sure this happens with boys too, but with far less drama and tears.

…that at this age, everything has to be pink or purple. I swear it looks like some Oompa Loompas threw up in their closets. Pink and purple stuff everywhere.

…that one day they will be dating. I’m not sure how I will handle this. Extensive background checks and the purchase of a sniper rifle might remedy this. Look out boys. I still have my jungle and desert cami’s from my military days. And they still fit…well.

…that one day they may eventually get married. This means I will have to flip the bill for two weddings. Retirement? What the hell is that?

… double the amount of love and kisses I get from them.

Having two daughters is not so bad after all.

An increasing amount of people have been inquiring about my marital status, so I have decided to just make a post on my blog to bring light of the current situation. Many people have probably figured it out by now, but I am no longer married. Well, technically still married but the final divorce proceedings are on hold due to my current financial woes. For those who know me, I have been working tirelessly to improve the flow of income. Was I trying to hide it? Nope. What’s over is over. I see no need to dwell on it everyday.

I don’t feel the need to go into any juicy details because at this point, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is picking up the pieces and moving forward to survive, become a better person and first and foremost, be the best father that I can be. *dusts off cape* My soon to be ex wife and I had a good 7 year run, but after many struggles, we both came to the conclusion that we just didn’t need to be married anymore.

Am I angry and hurt? Not anymore. It took some time, but I am over the bitterness and anger.  It makes no sense and it’s not productive. Also, how can I be angry at the woman that gave birth to our beautiful daughters?  I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. Am I disappointed? Yes, I think we both are in some way. Am I glad to be single again? Hell, no. I struggle with the single parent thing at times, but it’s OK since my ex and I share custody of the girls. We still communicate almost daily and keep each other in the loop when it comes to the kids and their well being. They are the priority. Having great family and friends has also helped along the way. Humor is also a great coping tool for me. Will I ever marry again? Probably not. I don’t like dating. That whole “getting to know you” thing sucks. I pretty much let people know who I am up front. Hence, a DadUnmasked.

The comments option is on but I’m not looking for pity, sympathy nor advice. The divorce has been in the works for almost a year now, so I’ve pretty much heard it all.

This is my life now and as my friend @JonathenBrown so frankly stated, “It’s not how I designed it, but that’s how it worked out.”

Stay tuned…