I’d like to weigh in on the dead-beat mom’s topic (Sound Off, Jan. 19-25). Growing up, I had step-siblings (their father was married to my mother). My step-father always paid his child support and was happy to take care of his children. However, it always seemed that his ex-wife had new clothes and brand-new convertible sports cars, and meanwhile when my step-siblings came to our house they were in dirty, ripped-up clothes. When asked if their mother had bought them any new clothes that year for school, they would say no. So usually my mother, who was their step-mother mind you, would go and take them shopping for new clothes. She has also helped pay for college, co-signed on loans for vehicles, and helped with numerous other things after they graduated high school, all because their own mother wouldn’t. I also have a good friend who is a step-mother and experiences a similar problem. Her husband is a sweet guy and loves his kids to death. Their mother, on the other hand, loves to get her hair and nails done and then send the kids to them wreaking of cigarette smoke and wearing dirty clothes. I have seen her and seen the kids so I know with my own eyes that this is the case. I’m not saying that all divorced moms are deadbeats, nor are all dads. I’m just saying that it’s not always the dad. Also, I think it’s lovely that you tell your kids that it’s their father’s fault that they live the way they do. Keep in mind that you chose to have children with him, he is still their father.