Best reply here. I'm thinking, hmm, five years old and already, her family has split up, her daddy has a new girlfriend, she's starting kindergarten, her older brother has his own social life (without her) and she had to go back and forth twice a week between two different homes. If someone did that to YOUR life, you'd be acting out like crazy. In fact, try packing up twice a week, and going back and forth to work from two different homes and see how it feels. Its exhausting.

Instead of forcing kids to live like vagabonds, adults need to do more of the adapting.

My ex-husband and I agreed to let our kids decide their own schedule. To maintain consistency, my ex and I spoke most everyday. We also had a rule, if Mom or Dad says no, and you don't tell the other one of us, you are in big trouble with both of us.

Dad was better in some ways, and I was better in other ways and whenever something happened, the kids always seemed to be with the one they needed most.

Little girl's bond with their father is essential to their future relationships with men. My guess is that this little girl could use some time alone with her father, (and no one else). If she knows she can have her father to herself, she might feel a whole lot more secure.

Unfortunately, new wives tend to compete with both the ex-wife and her children for the man's attention, her role as a wife, and her ideas about parenting.

You chose a hard road, and one on which you will always be second place in your own home. It is easy to put your children first, but it is very hard to another woman's children before yourself.