Absent Fathers
My daughter is 8-years old, her biological dad decided to pop back up after not being in her life practically her whole life and I had the talk to her about who he is because my husband (her stepdad) has been the father figure in her life since she was 2. Her bio dad moved away to New York when I was pregnant and never came back basically and recently reached out via social media about wanting a relationship with her now. After telling her about him I asked if she’d like to video chat or talk on the phone with him and she’s adamant about not wanting to do that right now but he’s forcing me to “make her comfortable” enough to talk to him but I’m not trying to force her in any way. I mean after all he’s a complete stranger in her eyes. Advice?
Uh, the fact that he’s trying to force you to “make her comfortable” is already big red flags. That’s not how that works, and he’d know that if he was present for ANY parenting at all. Tell him you’ve tried and she’s not ready yet. You can try again in a few weeks/months/whatever (if he doesn’t lose interest) after she’s had time to adjust, but he needs to accept that she may never be ready.