As much as I lurk on here, I feel a need to re-introduce myself to the sTalk community and share a little bit of my goings-on with you guys. I have been entirely too paranoid to post anything however mundane it may be. I don't have much to complain about in the way of my sKid, he's a pretty easygoing kid and I'm lucky to have a DH that understands the importance of discipline. Also, I've mastered the stinkeye and SS totally understands what it means when I use it.

Our BM hasn't been awful. She certainly is quite the irritant, but things have been somewhat civil in the last few months. I think we're all too busy to be arguing with eachother. We see SS whenever it's convenient for her. This is painfully annoying for us but in my opinion, it isn't worth the argument that would ensue. We wouldn't win anyhow...call me a pessimist. You guys know (perhaps moreso than I do) that the courts have never been on our side to begin with so what's the use? I'm not dragging us all back into court for the judge to tsk-tsk at BM. I don't even want to go down the path of confrontation with her...it never travels down a logical path and it turns into a pissing contest every single time - without fail.

However "peaceful" things may be at this point, I'm careful to not let my guard down as I am aware that our 3 year child-support review is looming somewhere within the next 8-10 months. I'm under the assumption that she's running a bit low on income seeing as she recently gave birth to yet another child (this makes for a total of three children, only one of which is my husband's.) I'm hoping that she and her family are doing okay financially as I have a vested interest in the stability of their household; she does not/will not work and her husband works a low-paying hourly job. Best case scenario is that they are incredible at balancing a household budget and the government picks up the food, diaper, and healthcare tab. Worst case scenario is that my husband and I get to take care of all of that good business when a judge decides it's our responsibility. I can separate our finances to my hearts content but it's still money being siphoned out of my household.

Don't get me wrong - I have no problem with my husband paying child support. I have a huge problem paying BM's-entire-family-support. My husband has had a small salary increase and I'm worried that it will come into play should she choose to take us back to court. Lets be real now...we all know she will. I don't know how this will affect my family's financial situation. We're doing okay right now. We rent a home that I'm proud to live in and we have everything we need. We definitely live paycheck-to-paycheck but we're able to save a >little< bit. We have a child on the way that we absolutely can provide for...that is, unless a judge decides we should be taking care of BM's entire family. I feel like we're on a very delicate balance when it comes to money. We're doing well but it wouldn't take much to make life hard for us. We're in the "just enough" income bracket where we have our needs and pay our bills, but are non-qualifiers for any sort of government assistance. Don't get me wrong, I'd MUCH rather pay out of my own pocket for the things my family needs, but it's tough knowing that even if I needed the assistance I probably couldn't get it. I don't know. I'm a worrier by nature so this all may be for naught, but what if it isn't?

I guess that's a universal thought process for all of us here.