Maddie's custody...

...has been settled as "Joint Custody" between my brother-in-law and his soon-to-be-ex-wife.

In other words, a nice complicated upbringing for this little girl, who turns 4 years old next week Wednesday.

I suppose we should just be grateful that Heidi didn't win primary custody, which would have meant my brother-in-law not having any say over Maddie's schooling, etc.

My brother-in-law is moving into an apartment here in Lincoln this weekend. He got a two-bedroom so he can set up all of Maddie's furniture and toys at his place. I believe she just sleeps on a couch when she's with Heidi, who is living with her current boyfriend. I would have thought that situation might have inclined the judge to award primary custody to my brother-in-law, but as we've been told, the local courts rarely favor the fathers. In fact, I think my brother-in-law's attorney even told him he was lucky to get this much, since Heidi had sued for primary custody to begin with.

Please say a prayer for Maddie today. Her life is way too unstable for a child to cope with comfortably.

--Sparki