Hi. I'm new here. I'm 36, married and we have four living children and one daughter who passed away. I have a son and daughter from a previous marriage, and my wife has two daughters from a previous marriage. We have one daughter together who passed away. That's my family. I'm having a difficult time knowing how to feel about my wife's ex husband. About a year ago he packed up and moved from Illinois to Wyoming; he did it because he hated Illinois, not because he had a job to go to, etc. In fact, he went there without a job in place or even a home to go to. He now works and has a rental. He is court ordered to pay child support each week and we always have to ask him to pay. He's currently behind on child support by a considerable amount, and he only calls his daughters once or twice per week.

My problem is that he wants to spend money on plane tickets this summer in order for the girls to go see him. My wife will not allow them to fly by themselves because of their age, so he said he'd like to purchase a roundtrip ticket for her so that she can escort them. I feel that since he owes a considerable amount of back child support that he shouldn't have the right to spend the $700 - $900 on plane tickets in order to fly them out. My wife agrees but has a hard time because the girls miss their dad. My opinion is that it's not my wife's mess to clean up since he chose to move away without any plans. I would have no problem with them going if he didn't owe back child support, because I know how important a father is to a child. I just feel that we spend all year long trying to raise four children and that he's neglecting his daughters by not helping out and by not calling as often as he should, and I feel taken advantage of by him since he knows how much he's behind (much more than the plane tickets themselves) yet he thinks it's okay to spend money on plane tickets.

Please help me understand how to deal with this. Thanks.