When Tom picked Annie up to go to his tonight, he managed, yet again, to upset her and unsettle her enough for her not to want to go. Every week is a battle to get her to go, and quite frankly, I don’t really know why I make her. Well, that’s not strictly true; I do know why. Partly because I look forward to having a little bit of time to myself, and partly because of the hassle it could bring from him.

Today’s upset was because Annie burped! He told her she was never to do it again, that it’s rude and that there’s no need to force them out for attention. That last comment felt like a dig at Josh because he burped several times yesterday when Tom was around.

The biggest error in that entire paragraph is this: ‘Tom was around.’

Why do I do this shit? Why – from the start – did it not become totally separate? He should always have just seen her at his house; instead, we do this pathetic bullshit of him coming here almost every single day to see her. Half the time, he doesn’t even do anything with her; he just sits talking to me, telling me all about his day.

I need to really think about whether her sleeping at his is actually benefiting her, because I’m no longer sure it is. In fact, based on things she’s said to me lately, I’m deeply concerned that he’s starting to display the same behaviours with her that he did with me, and I will not tolerate that at all.