It's All My Husband's Fault

  I don't even know how I forgot to blog about this, but prepare to be entertained by it.   A few weeks ago, Son asked if he had off on a Tuesday.  I told him I didn't think so, we hadn't heard anything about it.  A week or so later, Son asked again.  I looked at the school website and checked the calendar; nothing indicated he had off.  Son made a comment to Husband about the two of them going to see a movie together when he had off on Tuesday.  Husband asked me; I looked again and still saw nothing about him having off of school on Tuesday.   That weekend, we got a letter in the mail saying that Son didn't have school on Tuesday because of ACT testing.  Also that weekend, The Ex picked up Son but allowed Daughter to stay here for a friend's party.  Son told The Ex that he had off on Tuesday and asked if she was picking him up.  The Ex told Son that she was "leaving it up to him." ( Yeah, let the teenager set the placement sche...

  I've been reading a book titled "Divorce Poison" by Dr. Richard Warshak, and it has been tremendously insightful.  I strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone who has to deal with their own version of The Ex.   One of the chapters I'm in the middle of reading outlines certain reasons as to why your ex is bad-mouthing you.  Among these is a technique called "holding on with hate," which seems to be The Ex's prevalent behavior.  There are other behaviors which she's obviously exhibited, such as poor boundaries, narcissism, insecurity, and seeking validation.  But the "holding on with hate" has been almost entirely accurate.   According to Dr. Warshak, it is "surprising and ironic that often the ones who initiated the divorce have more difficulty accepting the end of the relationship." ( The Ex filed for divorce and then told the kids that Husband didn't want to be a family anymore. )  The reason people "hold on wit...

  The summer schedule was set in 2010 and is easiest explained as The Ex having primary placement of the kids, Husband gets alternating weekends, and Husband also receives two nonconsecutive full weeks; Husband is required to let The Ex know which two summer weeks he would like by May 1st.  Here's a breakdown of what we had to go through the first time around: The First Summer      During a placement exchange, Husband tried tell The Ex which two weeks he would like in the summer.  The Ex immediately interrupted him and stated, "No, I'm not switching.  You never work with me; I'm not helping you out."  Husband said they weren't switching weekends; he got two weeks and he was trying to let her know which weeks he'd like.  As a precaution, Husband sent her a follow-up text message; she didn't reply to the text, so we mailed out a physical letter to both The Ex and the court indicating which two weeks Husband would like to have.    ...

  There have been a series of events over the past few weeks that intertwine themselves to form a sort of wicker basket story.  Let's go back to when someone else called and Daughter wound up talking to The Ex.  ( For whatever strange reason, Daughter turned on her speakerphone and I overheard the majority of the conversation.  This would include the portion of the conversation when The Ex tried ending the call while Daughter tried to keep talking to her because she most likely missed her mother who never calls or text her. )   Daughter told The Ex that she had a basketball tournament coming up in the next week; The Ex told Daughter that she was going to have to have Husband update the calendar on 2houses ( That's not Daughter's job, and we weren't able to put anything on the calendar because we weren't given any info ourselves. )  Daughter says we just found out about it so we don't have any info, but we know her first game will be at noon.  Th...