#parentstruggle

My son loves the hero archetype. Even more so he loves super heros like I do although we have differing tastes of characters. This story isn't about superheros per say although Invisible Man is the character of choice here. What I'm sharing is my personal experience with invisibility as my son's father. Some background information to start. My son's mother and I have 50% custody timeshare each. At his other home with his mother he has a step-father and step-brother. On multiple occasions I have encountered people who become confused when I introduce myself as the father of my child. In some instsances it could be while meeting another parent from my son's school. Or when I was completeing paper work for my son's school file the office worker had a hard time believing that I was the father. Then there was the time that a friend of mine came across my kid's step-father who spoke of my son as if I didn't exist. The conversation confused my friend until he realized that stepdad was refering to my son as his child. More than confusing for people it is awkward. It's awkward for me as well. I'm not in opposition to the "blended family" concept. Niether am I opposed to new partners seeing my child as their own family. What occurrs in my situation is that my son's mother and new partner introduce themselves as the parents to our child as if our son has no biological father present in his life. Even in paperwork I will be left out leaving people to believe that my son's only parents are mother and her husband. When these instances surface I handle them. Set the narrative straight and make sure that it is known who I am to my child. For whatever reasons she can try to invisibilize me but there is no dissapiearing act happening here.