Consider your children before you pack up

Not long ago, a tragedy befell Simon’s house. He had just remarried after a two-year break up. Simon has a nine-year-old daughter from his previous marriage. Jackie his new wife, has a striking smile, but underneath the beautiful set of sparkling white teeth lies a jealous and mean woman. A character that showed its ugly face when she poured acid on her step-daughter.
Apparently the little girl had gone to her father’s house to collect school fees. And being the second in command of the house, Jackie ordered the girl to leave since the man was not home. But because she was desperate, the girl insisted on waiting. The acid attack was punishment for being such a stubborn girl.
Thank God the girl’s life was saved, despite the injuries she obtained. She is still nursing wounds though.
Such is the kind of fate some children suffer in the hands of their step parents. Torture does not only mean beating and being denied a right to food or education, it could get as bad as defilement. And this is the worst of them all.
It is such instances that have left some girls declaring all men evil, because the scar that a rapist leaves is permanent and will psychologically torture the little girl forever. Why would any woman torture another’s child? Why do step children have to pay for the sins of their parents? Is it them that signed somewhere to confirm their mothers’ leaving?
A few years back, a woman was jailed for boiling a six-month-old baby. Another who escaped a mob’s wrath, had burnt her step daughter’s hand for failure to do house work. And the worst story for me was that of a woman who reportedly inserted broken razor blades into her step-daughter’s flower. What kind of heart can that be? Does anyone have an answer to why a lot happens to our children in our absence?
I want you to sit down and think; if a mistress can insult an innocent wife, what do you think would happen if you left and that woman came into your home? How would you expect her to treat the children?
I know sometimes a woman maybe caught between a rock and a hard place, but your child is your life, you need to think twice before you ‘abandon’ them. Consider this; when the two of you decide to end the relationship or marriage, sit down and discuss your children’s future and also agree on who will have full custody to avoid any issues that may arise.
However, I also know that there are some wonderful step parents who will treat all the children as their own. If you meet one like that, recite your rosary a million times a day, or whatever way you find fit to thank God, because for that woman is a Godsend.
But like they say, no one can raise a child better than its mother, so the best option is to see how to be close to your children and take care of them yourself. You do not want to lose that bond and have your child blame you in future for the suffering they went through as a child.