THAT is so very true. I watched my older children do exactly that. I had an "open door" policy with their dad and more often than not he failed to see them. It broke my heart to see how disappointed they were. I did my best to protect THEIR feelings...told them "he had to work", an important "something" came up", or anything and everything I could think of so they didn't believe they were the cause of their father's failure to see them and because I didn't want them to feel like anything was their fault. By the time they became adults, they knew what the truth was. Still sad for them because they wanted a relationship with him so very badly. It left them with many "issues" as adults...number one, they all have problems with letting go of a bad relationship.
By the time I had my last child (late in life momma here), her father said he didn't want anything to do with her and I decided it was his loss. I wasn't going through all the song and dance again. We lived our life. She rarely questioned not having a dad in the picture and when she did, I simply told her that he lived "far away" (when she was young). By the time she was old enough to understand the situation, she already knew HE was the person responsible for not coming around...not her, (or me). She is a very happy, well adjusted, young lady who will be the first one to tell you he is an



...and it's not her problem, lol.