My Kid Too?

Baby and Toddler years

Rushed my wife to hospital and our son was born about midnight. One of the midwives took one glance and said "FAS!". "Yes definitely" the other responded.

"What was that?" I asked, but they just flippantly dismissed me saying "nothing for you to be concerned with". Later I learned that it means Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It's a life long affliction caused by "the mother" chain smoking and quaffing wine by the bottle with her friends while I was out working my butt off all day, to provide.

I loved my son no matter what. Although I had a stressful job with no spare time, it was I who would get up and change his nappy in the night while the mother, with no commitments other than caring for our child, pretended to be fast asleep. I was the one who rocked our baby to sleep in my arms and sang to him. I think he still remembers som like "the hammer and nail song" (Elcondor Passa by Simon and Grafuckle).

Soon, it was I who fed him breakfast before I set off for another grueling day. His mom then just shoved him infront the TV with a video. I remember coming home from work to whitness our toddler reciting what each dinosaur character in "The land before time" was about to say. I was horrified this was the only input he was getting, but I seemed to have no choice but to go out to work even though he considered me his primary care giver.

On returning home one day, my boy once exclaimed: "You take long time dad, where you been?" I explained "I've been at work, Nick. I have to earn money to pay for everything. What did you do today?"

He looked at me sadly. "I waited for you" he said. I glanced at his mother who was three sheets to the wind by now and still gassing to her sister on the phone with an overflowing ashtray and a cigarette on the go as was her daily wont.

Not even a hallo to me. I was often made to feel like an unwanted guest in my own home. I couldn't help wonder how on Earth I had ended up with such an useless selfish cunt as a partner, but worse was yet to come!