One Monkey Don't Stop No Show

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Tightrope Tales

By Kelli Johnson Wingfield

Twitter: KharismaticKell

Greetings! I am Kelli Johnson Wingfield. Proud mother of Kenedi Marissa Wingfield and full time Marketing Associate at the University of Maryland Medical Center. I am also in the process of growing my own business, Kharismatic Kreations, LLC, a full service screen printing company. In addition to my daughter and my career, I am also going through a separation from my husband. While on this tightrope called life I was thrown a curve ball called divorce, have to withstand the wind of betrayal, and often I battle with the gusts of working mom guilt. This blog will document how I balance my life on what seems to be a very thin line between love, joy, success, guilt, regret and passion. It highlights my transition to single motherhood and entrepreneur, and the many life altering decisions I have to make.

Tightrope Tales is a light-hearted blog that will detail how to maintain your balance while striving to fulfill your dreams, provide for your family, and be a loving parent to your child.

One Monkey Don't Stop No Show

Posted on March 07, 2012

related tags: Balance Family, Single Mom

This past weekend I celebrated my daughter’s birthday. I had started planning for it the end of January, the same time in which I told my soon to be (not soon enough) ex husband about the party plans. His response was, “I don’t think I’m going to make it. I’ll have to let you know.” No explanation why or anything. I left it alone and said nothing further about it. I did what I supposed to do by letting him know all of the plans for the party: the time, location and everything; and requesting his presence. It was totally up to him to take advantage of the opportunity to share in the celebration of his daughter’s birthday. So on her birthday, the actually day of the party, I get a text message from him, “Tell Kenedi Happy Birthday from Daddy #2.” I didn’t even bother to respond, and he didn’t bother to come. The party went on as planned and went smoothly.

Throughout this separation I have been constantly accused of sleeping around with men by my ex; subtle little comments like, “from Daddy #2.” So if he’s Daddy # 2 who is Daddy #1? I refuse to continue to defend my character because I should not have to. I rather let my actions and self-respect speak for itself. I get questioned by inquiring minds as if they are trying to figure out if I’m seeing someone…“Where did you go? Who did you go with? What are you doing? Who are you doing it with?” And the questioning isn’t normal conversation. It’s more like a rapid fire interview, and since I have absolutely nothing to hide I answer all of their questions without hesitation.

Once everything is settled and done with (did I mention how ready I am for this to be over and done with!), yes, eventually I will seriously venture out on the dating scene again. And even if and when I meet someone, I wouldn’t expect him to be Daddy #1 and would have to carefully consider when and if I would introduce another man in my daughter’s life. So for now I’ll continue to stand proud with my dignity and self-respect in tact and focus on being Mommy #1, 2, and 3 to my daughter, because that is a job I would not stand back and relinquish no matter how I feel about my ex and how our relationship ended. It’ll be in his and his daughter’s best interest if he followed my example. That is all.