I raised 4 kids without child support from the father, he chose to abandon us for he received an inheritance and took off to spend it. We did quite fine, I worked hard went to night school and the kids didn't go without from me except for lost time with their mom. They turned out to be nice young people.
This first question to this thread, about contemplating having to reduce support for child #1 because he chose to have child #2 is a selfish one. If he wants to have another kid and it is cramping his finances, he should get a second job to support them both, heck I did it, worked days at an office and weekends cleaning houses to put my sons in sports, I didn't take any charity nor make excuses. And for all the props he is getting for not being a deadbeat - that is like giving trophies at school to all the kids who ran the race. How far to dumb it down do we have to go? He should pay as all parents should. Giving credit for not being a deadbeat is lame. In this case he should stop whining and figure it out.
Be a real parent and give your kids support without putting yourself first, isn't that the test of a real parent, that you sacrifice your own self for your children? Make it work or don't bring them into the world in the first place.
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