Katie Greenberg Kramer v. Kramer Post #2

In my opinion, Joanna Kramer did not deserve to receive custody of her son. She is Billy's mother; however, she acted in an extremely irresponsible way when she walked out on him and her husband. She claimed she needed to "find herself," and while oneself is an important thing to have a grasp on she should have put her son first. The court does not seem to recognize that she did not do so. She walked out on her son for almost two years and yet came back to New York after that long span of time to get custody of him, which she ultimately receives. To me, her argument is not justified and although she delivers a heart-wrenching speech about her unconditional love for her son, she otherwise seems unfit to raise him. She may have been a good mother at one time, but upon leaving her family she completely lost sight of her son's needs. This is a huge fault in my opinion and something that should be inexcusable in a mother. She also seems to be very unstable emotionally (at one moment she seems happy and content but at the next is hysterical and crying), and this is a quality that a mother really should not possess. If she is not emotionally stable, it is unreasonable to think that she could raise an emotionally stable child. Furthermore, she had not been dedicated or even connected to her son in any way for almost two years (well, except for stalking him at school) while Ted worked very hard during that time to be a very good father. Since she made no effort and Ted made a great effort to effectively raise Billy, it seems only fair that Ted get to raise his son. Additionally, Billy seemed to be very attached to his father and was very upset when he learned that he could not live with him anymore. I believe that this should have been a factor in the decision, because it was a great indication that Ted had been a great parent to Billy and would continue to be a great parent. All of this is not to say that Joanna shouldn't have gotten any rights to her son, but I definitely do not think she should have gotten full custody.