Rock and hard place
I’ve asked my youngest sons (son is nearly 3 and curious about everything) dad to make a couple of small changes to his house to keep our son safe and his well being looked after (stairgate, alcohol stored where our child can’t get to it, no lodgers present at handovers, cupboard locks on kitchen cupboards) and he refuses and has countered this by saying that he feels my place is unsafe for our child due to my alcoholic neighbour (who doesn’t have much contact with our child unless I am there and most of the contact is in view of my cctv camera). He’s also mentioned that our son goes to him with bumps and bruises. Any major injuries (son headbutted the radiator the other week for example), I tell him about and send him pictures. However, our son also goes to preschool, so is bound to inherit small bumps and bruises. He’s told me to involve social services and that he’s concerned that he will have to take time off work until I resolve the concerns he has. For context, he has him 2 days a week and doesn’t ask about our son on the days he doesn’t have him. He has two male lodgers, who despite asking for dbs checks to be done, he hasn’t. They all live in a 2 bedroom terrace house, with my son and his dad sleeping in the living room. I provide our son clothes each week, and as of late, have only been getting one set of day clothes and a set of PJs to wash.(no he doesn’t do any washing)
So here I am in the middle of a Rock and Hard place, my mental and emotional abusive ex is doing it all over again, putting me in a difficult and stressful position.
I don’t have any family support and not sure where to turn too.
Posted May 11, 2026, 5:19 AM UTC