Parenting as a Christian Single Dad

It has been several months now since the divorce and even more when the separation is taken into account so why is it that things don’t seem to be getting any easier? The worst is when Madalyn goes to her mom’s. I will have her all week and after 5 minutes of her being gone I am miserable. I hate not having her here, she brings the home alive and I plan my day, night, and week around her and her needs. When she is not here I feel lost with no direction. Severe ADD, focusing on any one task takes too much work. The best I can do is put a movie in and eat a pint of ice cream. I just thought this would get easier over time and I would be able to spend the time I don’t have her working on my home business but by the time the fog or depression lifts I have wasted most of the week. Any one have any suggestions? Maybe I need therapy :-)

New Question! My ex is what you would call a social butterfly and she has children from previous marriages, there seems to never be a dull moment or a moment when she is not on the go. When Madalyn is with her of course she gets to experience the same. She also gets to see her half sisters and she sure does love them. Now when Madalyn is with daddy, me, I am more of a homebody. We go for walks, bike rides, to the park, or watch "Clifford the Big Red Dog." Typically it is just her and I. Does she get bored with her daddy? Do I need to have more stimuli for her? I don't know... The reason I am thinking about this is that she seems to always be excited to see her mom. Sometimes I feel sad because it does not seem like she wants to be with me. I don't even know if these two things are related but I thought that maybe she wants her mom more is becuase of the excitement associated with being with her. I am just boring old daddy. I don't know, maybe I am totall...

Over the past several months since my divorce I have struggled at times with God and my desire to seek Him out. In my heart I know it is the thing to do but instead of placing the blame on myself for not being the Christian husband that I ought or knowing what to do for my wife to make her stay I blame God for "making" me marry the wrong woman. I often amaze myself at my stinking thinking but I have moments where I get angry at God and then pull away. I still try to show Madalyn that there is a God in hopes that she will understand and know God. I find myself selling her short when it comes to knowing what she understands and does not. To me she is 2 and still a baby. I think that I am actually the baby... Here is why... While I was having one of my above episodes and feeling like I need to take care of myself and not God I have been in a rush, no time for God because I have so much to do. If I am to make something more of my life then I need to take control and get to ...

FYI: two minutes after posting my last post, after days of not being successful, Madalyn says I got to go potty. Of course I have heard it before and we take her diaper off and it is wet. To my surpise she jumps up on the pot and tinkles again. She is happy and we are excited. YAY! Madalyn. Maybe we are back on track!

It seems like I have been trying to get Madalyn potty trained for a couple months now. She get excited about it then loses interest after a couple of days, even with the rewards. Between daycare, mom's house and here it is hard for me to make any progress. We are all trying to be on the same page but the ex and I don't talk much and daycare is pretty busy to keep on top of it. My latest idea has to do with getting a gum ball machine and filling it with some sugar free candy and each time she uses the potty she gets a penny to put in and get a reward. I hope this works because I am not sure what to try next and as I am told girls are supposed to be easy to potty train. Anyhow, suggestions and prayer would be appreciated. Thanks