My Ex is a Turnip

Yesterday I received a certified letter from my former husband explaining why he cannot contribute financially to his children.  It seems it is my fault.  I hate when I do that:  make other people quit jobs and such.  I guess I should have also worked harder to make cetain the kids stopped eating and growing and going to school (notebooks are expensive, you know). Or maybe it is this whole living in luxury thing I have been enjoying.  For example, there is the car; if it weren't repossessed you would be impressed with its lack of leather interior and its ability to hit 60 mph within 10 or 15 minutes.  Oh.  And the house I rent--1200 whopping feet of piles of laundry and a chair that our dogs long ago ate a hole in.  But I digress.  The real problem here is that I took way too long to quit my teaching career to get a job in sales (trust me--I am spectacular at it) to earn about $4000.00 more a year.  Thank goodness I finally saw the light!  I am now able to keep my family just above the poverty level.  And while I'm on the subject, the kids really should have started working earlier than they did.  Sadly, they have obviously inherited my "lazy" genes; the Ex made sure he told me I was lazy frequently when we were still married.  If my son had any decency he would have started earning his keep way before the age of ten!  Cleaning public restrooms, the insides of public garbage cans, and grease splattered walls five hours a week for 20 bucks is just not enough when you are so advanced in age.  I think he may grow up to be a loser.   And then there is my daughter.  Now there is a story.  What a lazy lump.  She is really beginning to remind me of Paris Hilton.  Except for the clothes, of course.  She buys all of those herself from local thrift stores with money she earns from her part-time job and babysitting.  And I really wish she would stop doing things like cooking dinner for the three of us when I have a late meeting.  Seriously.  How lame is that?  She is learning stuff like nutrition, cooking skills, and helping those she loves.  I guess I can always hold onto the fact that both kids make good grades in school and are really good and kind people. God.  I have made a mess of everything.  My half-way-new-year-resolution is, from this day forward, to be more understanding of the man who just can't take care of his children financially.  And while I am working on being a good person, I will also forgive him for not seeing, calling, writing or communicating with the children in a year.  Afterall, it is exhausting I am sure, to quit a career, move over 10 hours away, get remarried, and spend all of your extra energy forgetting you have a responsibility to anyone but yourself.  How could he possibly have time to get and keep a job?  And as the saying goes, you can't get blood out of a turnip.