My story is a long one, and Im finding it difficult trying to break down what my exact issues and that of my daughters are into the correct catergories to fit into this forum... So I am going to begin with the ones that concern me the most...

I am the newly single mother of a 5yr old daughter, her father and I split over his anger and my hoarding issues mixed with substance abuse etc etc.. - not a very stable environment for a child to be bought up in, and for that I am really ashamed of myself for not standing up for us sooner.

The thing is, I currently have an intervention order (AVO) taken out protecting my daughter and myself against my ex partner (her father) - I am new at this, and am still trying to come to terms with the fact that we are no longer under his control, i.e. still trying to maintain assertation where our lives are concerned!

She misses her dad terribly some days, and never speaks of him on others... I am having a hard time trying to find the right words to explain why she cant see her daddy... I have never badmouthed him to her, but, she has been in the middle of some physical and verbal abuse that he has directed at me, and despite her age, she is pretty switched on to what is/has happening/ed.

She has always had somewhat of an attitude, but lately her outbursts have been borderline 'mental' ... (I use that term loosely and without disrespect!) Its like she saves all of her frustrations etc for that particular time and lashes out at anyone in her 'space' - including punching, throwing things, biting, screaming etc.

She is a very bright, articulate girl, and is usually very well behaved, which is probably why her outbursts seem so unnatural...

She has just begun school, and for the first time has been away from me for more than just half a day, from when she was at kindergarten, so I imagine that her outbursts are a mixture of her FULL days at school and everything that has happened between her father and I ...

Her father is mentally unstable, and it worries me that he will fill her head with emotional **** that a 5yr old shouldnt have to deal with.. thus causing more emotional trauma that she has so much trouble expressing..

*sigh* ... and I dont even know if I had a question at the beginning of this post or if I just needed to vent about it?

Thanks for listening!! x