My parents divorced when I was 10 and that was the last time I had a relationship with my father.
My father still lives close to me locally but he doesn't contact me, and if I see him in public I do not address him for personal reasons. Now I am married and I have a child and he has seen me with my child.
My child is almost five and has started asking where my daddy is. This is a hard topic to discuss and I do not think my child would understand if I just said "my father was a deadbeat dad." I also know that I do not want to lie to my child and say my father is dead in case my father might grow up one day. My child has asked several times now and I have dodged/changed the topic.
How do you explain to a child that one of your own parents is not around?