I learned the hard way, too, OP. My dad left my mom, 6-year-old sister, and me for another woman, and I wasn't even a year old at the time. I visited his house maybe five weekends out of the year, despite living, say, 20 miles away. When I did visit, he hardly paid any attention to me; he mostly wanted to see my older sister. It was worse when he had another daughter with his new wife, and I was only allowed to visit if it meant that I could babysit her when we went out to eat or to the community pool. He only really tried to get back in touch with me once my half-sister graduated from high school; he wanted me to be some kind of "mentor" for her and help her through college. Parents like that will only see you as a means to an end, and nothing more. I'm sorry you have a genetic material donor for a dad. And about that whole "owing me for raising you" trump card bull: even if your dad didn't ditch you and your mother, *he* faced the potential consequences and had a kid. *You* owe him absolutely nothing. Kids don't ask to be brought into the world, and he wasn't doing you some favor by doing so.

That's still 5 years of your life...

Throw him a nickel, a cent for every year he stuck around, and kick him out.

FINISH HIM

Why does this post have YDIs? Someone could post on here "Today, my wife and children died of a terrible disease" And it would get at least 1000 ydi's.

love him from a distance

FYL op. my old man passed away when I was 4. I'd prefer that than the pathetic excuse of a man your father is. Sorry to hear this.

you don't deserve that shit

I had a dad who lived about 10 miles away from my mother, sister and I while I was growing up. He had beaten my mother and older sister, my mom left him before he could get to me. He stopped paying child support when I was nine or ten. Look, just LET IT GO. You don't "need" to "love" your biological father if he is not capable of being a decent human being. Let go and move on. You are not a bad person for doing that. If you keep this false hope alive of him ever being the father you want, you will do much, much more damage to yourself than if you let. go.

I would have done like Lily in HIMYM, just give the the stare and kick him right out.