Christmas 2011

  The Ex's dad was still hit or miss with his health; he had gotten a blood clot and the doctors thought they may have to amputate his foot, then they thought maybe only his toes, then they thought maybe his leg.  The poor guy had been through a lot in the last two months.  They let him leave the hospital from out-of-state and come back home, where they continued to monitor his leg.

  Three days before Christmas, The Ex calls and says she wants to pick up the kids early.  Husband says no, he likes being able to say goodbye to them before they're gone so she could pick them up at 5pm.  The Ex gets angry (Is anyone shocked by this anymore?) and tells Husband she's going to show up at the school.  Husband tells her that no, she will not.  The Ex says she will come to the school and bring the police with her (That won't mortify the kids in front of all of their friends or anything) because the court order reads that she gets the kids as soon as they get out of school on Fridays.  Husband tells her no, the court order reads that she can pick up the kids at 5pm.  The Ex challenges Husband to read to her directly from the order "because she knows he doesn't have a copy of it." (Right, that's why you're the one that never knows who has the kids which weekends or what you agreed to in court - because WE don't have a copy)  The Ex continues saying she will show up at the kids' school with the police.  Husband tells her he is not going to sit on the phone and argue with her, he will see her at 5pm on Friday, and he hung up.

  The Ex calls back immediately, leaves a message telling Husband he's "real, real smart hanging up on her!"  Says she will not be getting the kids at 5, she will get them at 11:30.  Oh, and now she suddenly wants to talk to the kids so "call her back, because [Husband] is keeping [the kids] from her." (Um, no.  You never said you wanted to talk to the kids.  You called up, arguing and screaming; Husband ended the conversation.  That is not "keeping the kids from you."  That is avoiding an argument.)  Husband called her back and repeated he would see her at 5pm on Friday.  The Ex begins demanding that Husband tell her what we are doing on Friday, why she can't have the kids; she asks if Husband or I took the day off or if we're going to be working.  Husband told her it's none of her business what we're doing that day.

  The Ex then says to ask the kids if they want to get picked up early.  Husband says this is not the kids' decision; they, as parents, are to talk this out and discuss it.  The Ex says, "Well, I guess you're being a pretty bad parent then, aren't you?" (I won't even comment)  She then demands that Husband put the kids on the phone; Husband told her they were still upstairs and were coming down.  The Ex starts screaming that Husband is "keeping the kids from her." (Kids taking forever = Husband keeping the kids from The Ex)

  The kids get downstairs, Husband hands the phone to Son.  The first thing out of The Ex's mouth is, "Dad's not letting me get you guys early on Friday."  Husband took the phone back, told The Ex that he overheard what she said, she was wrong for doing that to Son, and if she was going to talk to the kids about the conversations that the parents should be having, he was going to end the call.  The kids finished talking to The Ex.

  An hour later, The Ex calls again.  She says they were just told that her dad has to have his leg amputated on Thursday morning.  Husband says he's sorry to hear that.  The Ex says, "So can I pick up the kids early on Friday?" (Huh?)  Husband told her no, she can get them at 5pm.  The Ex began complaining that she wanted the kids early, family is important and she wanted the kids to be with her dad on Christmas.  Husband said that was fine, Christmas Eve was on Saturday and she was going to have the kids then, plus the week after.  The Ex said, "Well, I'm probably not going Saturday.  I have two other parties to go to." (I can't even make this stuff up.  She actually tried using her dad's medical issues to get her way.  She even pulled the "family is important" card, then admits she's not even going to the hospital on Christmas Eve.) She asks again if she can get the kids early on Friday; Husband tells her no.  The Ex starts screaming, tells Husband he is "a piece of s**t" and hangs up on him. (That's the Christmas spirit...)

  Next thing I know, I'm getting a text from The Ex's sister that says she's not getting in the middle but The Ex isn't lying about their dad (....I'm sorry, what?) and that's why The Ex wanted the kids early (She wanted the kids early before the doctors gave your dad an answer.  That's not why) Her sister says she knows The Ex "has done things" but it wasn't right to think the worst and that The Ex wouldn't lie about that.  I text her back and give her a brief breakdown of the situation, tell her that nobody said at any point that The Ex was making anything up.  The sister texts me back, says The Ex called crying that Husband wouldn't let her get the kids early and said Husband accused her of making it up about their dad just to try and get the kids early (Which is indirectly what she did - she didn't make it up, but she did try and use it just to get the kids when she wanted. But Husband never once said she was making it up. )

  After all of that, The Ex did come at the regularly scheduled time...except she was almost 20 minutes late.