My mother is neglectful in an emotional and physical way.
I was inducted into the National Honor Society.
I was really excited about the ceremony,
and she didn't show up.
I was in the car and trying to tell my mom
about these kids that kept throwing food at me.
She told me that she had a rough day
and she didn't want to deal with the drama.
My mom is not attentive.
She is more concerned about her wants and needs
than she is her children's.
She wants to title of being a mother,
but doesn't want the responsibility of it.
Okay, I'm here with Sadie, Skylar, and Zoey,
and they say their mother Niki, is so obsessed
with becoming a trophy wife to her boyfriend of seven months
that she's just abandoned them,
spends all of her time with him,
and that what time they do have with her
she's forcing her new boyfriend on them.
Now Niki says her children gave her an ultimatum,
either break up with her boyfriend
or they would not see her anymore.
Lets hear what she says.
My relationship with John has put a wedge
between my daughters and me.
It is a very painful thing to feel like you cannot mother
your children properly because you wanted a boyfriend.
Marcus, my ex, feeds my daughters in telling them
that I've abandoned them.
I have absolutely not chosen my boyfriend over them.
I've asked them several times to tell John and I
what their issues are, and they refuse every time.
Marcus does tell them that they don't have to
talk to my dumbass boyfriend.
I have no leverage to parent my children.
I tell the girls; I'm your mom,
and you need to listen to me.
You leave tonight and you go over there
instead of keeping your promise
and having dinner with me and Skylar,
then I am not seeing you anymore.
Sadie is 19 and she feels that she is a grown up now,
and she knows it all.
Sadie, I don't answer to you.
Zoey has always been the wild child.
One time she calls me a bitch and a (bleeping) whore.
I said to her; I'm sorry you feel that way,
but you are not gonna talk to me like that.
Sometimes I don't understand what Skylar's needs are.
I don't really wanna be here, no offense.
I do believe Marcus takes pleasure
in trying to undermine me in my parenting.
Marcus wants the girls to believe that he's their savior
and I'm the devil.
My girls told me if I don't break up with John,
they are not gonna come over and see me anymore.
I said to them; I'm sorry you feel that way,
I will miss you terribly.
The door is always open if you change your mind.
Okay, it's good to meet you.
You've been listening to everything so far, right?
Yes, I have.
So let me give you the floor first
to react to anything you want to react to
about what you've heard.
I did not have any affair on my husband.
I did not break up my family.
As at matter of fact, it was quite opposite.
No, I don't wanna be John's trophy wife.
I do not go from boy to boy, to boy to boy.
You guys were wondering
why your father was crying in the closet.
Yeah, I talked to him when he was in the closet.
It's because he saw you on the back of a bike
with another guy.
I remember I got a ride.
I got a ride.
So you would never even touch dad's motorcycle
because you hated them, but you get on the back of a bike.
I got on your dad's motorcycle a lot.
When your dad had a motorcycle you guys were little,
and I was often pregnant as there are five of you.
So yeah, did I get on the motorcycle, a lot?
No, but when I wasn't pregnant, yes I did.
Mom, you told us you hate motorcycles anyway.
No, I don't hate motorcycles and I don't know
where that's coming from.
You did text somebody that you thought
you were in love with them.
I was. _ While you were married, so.
I did say, I did do that.
It was very painful last year,
last year and a half of my marriage.
So the last year of your marriage
you were texting somebody that you were in love with them?
I was texting my friend
that I thought I had feelings for someone.
In fairness, you guys don't know what you don't know.
Yeah.
You know what you see, you know what you hear,
but you don't know what you don't know
about what goes on between a husband and a wife.
Yeah.
That you don't drag kids into in fairness.
Now Skylar says it's been eight or nine months
since she tried making plans with her mom,
and she just doesn't feel like a priority to you.
So that's the issue, right?
You just don't feel like you're on her radar anymore.
Yeah.
And the Honor Society thing that Lisa showed me,
I did not know that was happening.
I told you two days in advance.
I would have come there if I had known.
There's no reason for me not to.
I put your events in my appointment book,
and I book appointments around it.