Customer Reviews

We Need Our Daddy Too: A Grandmother's Story of Her Son's Divorce

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We Need Our Daddy Too: A Grandmother's Story of Her Son's Divorce
This is a very good book. It should be read by any man thinking about getting a divorce. It is an illustration of how the Friend of the Court is very biased toward the female in regards to child custody issues even if the father is a responsible man that pays his child support. It is a good warning that an attorney will be worth the money spent when getting a divorce. The cooperative nature that is present at the time of the divorce can, and many times does, change well after the divorce is settled. At this time a lot of women use the court system as a mode of vengence and, as the book points out, the court system is a willing participant.

Divorce is one of the nastiest things a child can experience. "We Need Our Daddy, Too: A Grandmother's Story of Her Son's Divorce" is a recollection of a mother's struggle through a hard time with her son, and a grandmother's struggle with the loss of contact with her grandchildren. Telling the story of the cruelty of divorce from another perspective, "We Need Our Daddy, Too" is a profound and saddening tale that will make grandparents cherish their children and encourage parents to rethink divorce.

The value in the book is how the author shows how divorce doesnt effect just the children involved but the extended family as well. Many books are written from the point of the view of the parent who 'wins' the children. Grandparents play an important role or should, in a childs life. Now, to be fair, this is one side of this story, but its a side worth reading about.

When reading books about subjects as emotional as child custody for evaluation, it is necessary to maintain a bit more professional distance. The author is deeply, heavily involved in the issue of spending time with her grandchildren, as she should be. However, that attachment naturally leads to some overstatements and misinterpretations of the situations. No loving person could do it any other way.
As someone who knows about child custody issues and how they go, I understand the initial error the father (son of the author) made when he agreed to the divorce without hiring an attorney. There is one cold hard fact, once the legal system grants a divorce with some custody agreement; it hates to have the issue brought up again. Absent strong and independent evidence of significant malfeasance on the part of the custodial parent, getting a change in visitation or custody over the objections of the custodial parent is almost impossible.
Another failure of the legal system is over grandparental rights, in essence there are none. If the custodial parent wishes to keep the children from the most loving and kindest of grandparents, it is a simple thing to do. Just do it and then demand that there be nothing in the way of directional contact initiated by the grandparents. If the custodial parent lacks a concern over how the children feel about not being with their grandparents then it is the end of discussion although the rest of the story remains to be written.
This is a hard book to read because it is true, tragic and not at all atypical. The author is a loving grandparent caught up in a situation where her voice means little to officials and the custodial parent but means everything to the grandchildren deprived of her presence.

This is a story that needed to be told. This compelling book, written from the grandmother's perspective, outlines the injustices that our system ignores at the expense of precious and innocent children. Many of us know someone who has suffered at the hands of a vindictive, vengeful ex-spouse who thinks nothing of holding their children hostage in a divorce/custody battle. Karen points to mistakes made by most everyone involved, some with the intent of protecting the children, in an effort to raise awareness of how our actions, and that of others, can have disturbing consequences. She also speaks to the shortcomings of our family court system. Karen's telling of her families' painful struggle is heartbreaking and sad, but well worth reading.