A long time ago, a comment troll said that Evan is Doug’s only son. Doug considers all of the children to be his and they all love him more than the person who has virtually abandoned them. My ex comes around for about 36 hours once a year and their time is spent playing video games in the hotel while he sleeps and touring all the local pawn shops in search of good deals on guitars. He hasn’t spoken to Sarah or Noah in more than 3 months but he did call Tommy to complain that he is too busy to call the children. The children don’t know my ex’s parents at all. In fact, as much as I dislike my ex, I have nothing but pity for the way his parents treat him. It’s silly of me to expect everyone to see Doug and I as one family the way that we see ourselves. When Doug’s grandmother cold shouldered Noah while drooling over Amy three years ago, we hoped Noah was too young to notice. When someone only wants to visit Amy and Evan now, it is impossible for the older children not to notice, especially when they are planning on taking only the youngest two out for a new outfit each. I was caught off guard by this and I’m disappointed that I wasn’t more intuitive about others’ feelings. When my children are dissed, even if it is unsurprising, my mother bear claws come out. Mother bears are not rational or reasonable, just instinctually protective.