Dear John:

A big enough part  of your depression is that you are sick and tired being at home watching her kids, “doing homework with kids, cooking, cleaning,  helping them, getting them ready for bed and school the next day”. How often, after all,  does one hear of depressed mothers being stuck at home? A whole lot. So you are in that same  boat.

You then miss your ex girlfriend because  you didn’t watch her kids, when you saw her the two  of you were out and about having fun, she had enough money you wrote some time ago, to afford fun vacations, so no wonder you miss that time!

Well, this part of your depression, there is something you can do about it- quit your unpaid job taking care of her kids, see to  it that she  gets a different  shift at  work very, very soon or give her a notice otherwise, like an employee would give an employer, a certain amount of time for her to find a different arrangement for her children. I wish them well, her children that is, but I also wish you well and being a nanny ain’t working for you.

anita