End of school year blowout
I may have already mentioned them, but I'd like to take a moment to quote two specific phrases from the court order between Husband and The Ex:
• The party receiving the children shall pick them up during the school year. This shall be reversed during the summer.
• The party receiving the children shall pick them up during the school year. This shall be reversed during the summer.
• The summer is defined as the Monday after school ends until one week before school starts in the fall.
That's easy enough to understand, isn't it? After all, it's been the court order for nearly five years. There has never before been an issue on our end over who was supposed to pick up or drop off Son and/or Daughter. There was an issue in November 2013 when The Ex "didn't know" they had switched weekends, failed to pick up either of the kids, and then tried demanding that Husband give her a "make-up" weekend for her screw up. There was another issue in December 2014 when The Ex left Husband a rambling voice mail and stated that she "completely forgot she was getting [the kids]" that weekend. But Husband and I have never been confused about who is supposed to be where and what time they are supposed to be there.
I believe I've mentioned in the past that the schedule gets kind of confusing because Son is now in high school while Daughter is still in parochial school. Even so, it doesn't change what the order says about placement exchange and the school/summer schedule.
Daughter got out of school on May 28th; her school release coincided with our placement weekend. According to the court order, her summer schedule started on June 1st. This means Husband would be responsible for dropping off Daughter on Monday night at 5:30pm, which he did.
Son got out of school on June 5th; his school release coincided with The Ex's placement weekend. According to the court order, his summer schedule did not start until June 8th. This means The Ex was responsible for picking up Son on Friday night.
Around 5:40pm, Son asked if Husband had told The Ex to pick him up somewhere else. I said no and asked why. Son said Daughter had sent him a text asking, "Where are you?" The Ex then began bombarding both Husband and Son's phones with repeated calls; they missed them because they were outside together. Son came inside to check his phone and The Ex called him for the fourth time. I could hear The Ex yelling through the phone asking him where he was; Son said he was at our house. The Ex continued yelling and Son said, "So wait, you're not even close to being here?!"
The Ex screwed up the placement exchange. When she realized that Husband was not coming, she called Son and told him that Husband was "making her come all the way out here to pick him up when he was supposed to be dropping him off." Son then got angry at Husband because he was being told that his father wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing; The Ex was playing the martyr and Son was falling for it hook, line, and sinker.
Son got mad at Husband, Husband got upset with Son, everyone was irritable. After they all calmed down, Husband went to talk to Son about this. Husband apologized for getting upset; he said that he is sorry that The Ex had assumed he was dropping Son off by her but this has been the court order for five years. He explained that yes, he had dropped Daughter off on Monday because that was when Daughter's summer schedule started; Son's summer schedule hadn't started so The Ex was responsible for picking him up that night. Husband explained that the order was written the way that it was for a reason: there is no way Husband can work until 4pm, come pick up Son in School City, and make it to Tourist City by 5:30pm on Friday nights. Husband has never dropped off on Fridays; he drops off on Mondays because that's his day off.
During all of this, Son said nothing. I think it took effect though, because eventually he came downstairs, ate dinner with us, joked around, and even hugged both of us goodbye when his mother finally showed up at 7pm.
This is just another notch in the post proving that it really doesn't matter what it's for, who's right/wrong, or who's involved. It will always and forever be my husband's fault.
That's easy enough to understand, isn't it? After all, it's been the court order for nearly five years. There has never before been an issue on our end over who was supposed to pick up or drop off Son and/or Daughter. There was an issue in November 2013 when The Ex "didn't know" they had switched weekends, failed to pick up either of the kids, and then tried demanding that Husband give her a "make-up" weekend for her screw up. There was another issue in December 2014 when The Ex left Husband a rambling voice mail and stated that she "completely forgot she was getting [the kids]" that weekend. But Husband and I have never been confused about who is supposed to be where and what time they are supposed to be there.
I believe I've mentioned in the past that the schedule gets kind of confusing because Son is now in high school while Daughter is still in parochial school. Even so, it doesn't change what the order says about placement exchange and the school/summer schedule.
Daughter got out of school on May 28th; her school release coincided with our placement weekend. According to the court order, her summer schedule started on June 1st. This means Husband would be responsible for dropping off Daughter on Monday night at 5:30pm, which he did.
Son got out of school on June 5th; his school release coincided with The Ex's placement weekend. According to the court order, his summer schedule did not start until June 8th. This means The Ex was responsible for picking up Son on Friday night.
Around 5:40pm, Son asked if Husband had told The Ex to pick him up somewhere else. I said no and asked why. Son said Daughter had sent him a text asking, "Where are you?" The Ex then began bombarding both Husband and Son's phones with repeated calls; they missed them because they were outside together. Son came inside to check his phone and The Ex called him for the fourth time. I could hear The Ex yelling through the phone asking him where he was; Son said he was at our house. The Ex continued yelling and Son said, "So wait, you're not even close to being here?!"
The Ex screwed up the placement exchange. When she realized that Husband was not coming, she called Son and told him that Husband was "making her come all the way out here to pick him up when he was supposed to be dropping him off." Son then got angry at Husband because he was being told that his father wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing; The Ex was playing the martyr and Son was falling for it hook, line, and sinker.
Son got mad at Husband, Husband got upset with Son, everyone was irritable. After they all calmed down, Husband went to talk to Son about this. Husband apologized for getting upset; he said that he is sorry that The Ex had assumed he was dropping Son off by her but this has been the court order for five years. He explained that yes, he had dropped Daughter off on Monday because that was when Daughter's summer schedule started; Son's summer schedule hadn't started so The Ex was responsible for picking him up that night. Husband explained that the order was written the way that it was for a reason: there is no way Husband can work until 4pm, come pick up Son in School City, and make it to Tourist City by 5:30pm on Friday nights. Husband has never dropped off on Fridays; he drops off on Mondays because that's his day off.
During all of this, Son said nothing. I think it took effect though, because eventually he came downstairs, ate dinner with us, joked around, and even hugged both of us goodbye when his mother finally showed up at 7pm.
This is just another notch in the post proving that it really doesn't matter what it's for, who's right/wrong, or who's involved. It will always and forever be my husband's fault.
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