My dad doesn't care - who else has a useless parent/s?

He never calls, he works all hours and doesn't know a thing about me and my sisters. My mum is effectively a singe parent. He has his own interests, and family is not one of them. He is a workaholic and doesn't ever come home. He argues with my mum if she asks him to take her out or do something together. They haven't done anything together in over a decade. He hasn't called me since last year. When I call he half heartedly talks to me. We have brought it up with him but he shrugs it off and carries on ignoring us. He basically isn't a family man and never will. My mum said today she regrets marrying him - my sister was crying because she wanted both of them to go to the uni open day with her but he said he can't so my mum is going alone.

As much as he sounds emotionally detached, do any of you appreciate that he works so hard to feed and shelter you? maybe just maybe it works both ways and he cant be that useless because hes out there working hard for his family!

That really sucks.

On the plus side, It's better then a dad who ran off and doesn't contribute financially, surely?

Use him for money, he deserves it.

My dad should never have had kids so young. My parents broke up, we saw him every weekend (well not my brother who never got on with him) but his heart wasn't in it. Pretty much the visits became less frequent - he never called, didn't know our ages, got the dates of our birthdays wrong. I haven't seen him in nearly a year.

No offence, but why is your mum still with him?

No offence, but why is your mum still with him?

lol I actually do think of it like that. I get so sad when I see fathers with their children, I'll admit jealous. I can't imagine what it must feel like to have a normal father, who makes convo with me, calls me and does stuff with us. He tries to spend as little time as possible with us and when he is he is just on his phone checking emails or laughing at provate jokes with himself, he is a very private person,

Yes we do. But he is working hard because he enjoys working or because he hates home, I don't think he does it because he loves us. I mean he gives us money (he is a doctor) but I know for a fact he doesn't care about us.

i suppose if you've tried talking and reasoning with him, and if he works so much maybe he has another woman on the side

I know he has been exchanging emails with a work colleague - flirtatious, talking about his desires, talking about meeting her in a hotel. He is not happy with my mum, he never loved her, he just married her for convenience, to have someone to cook and clean after him.

there you go then, chances are he's getting his end off somewhere else, the sooner your mother does something about it the better for her self esteem and the family's happiness

Ps: in regards to my first comment i just wanted to put both sides of the argument out there, because he is not a complete waste, as he's out there working hard (presumably sometimes)

she doesn't know and I will never tell her. It will destroy our family. I am just hoping it will never come to light.