It's All My Husband's Fault

  Do you guys remember how back in February, we had written into the order that communication (text messages, emails, etc) would be at least acknowledged within 24 hours?  And that any questions would be answered within 48 hours?  Because Husband got tired of being ignored when he was trying to communicate about the kids? ( I could understand The Ex blowing him off if he was just bothering her.  I'd even encourage The Ex to blow him off if he was harassing or verbally abusing her.  But when Husband asks a direct question about something that will affect Son and/or Daughter and is ignored, well...that's just plain silly, now isn't it? )   From February through very early August, The Ex didn't follow that part of the order a total of eleven times.  In the two most recent of those emails, Husband had asked if they could switch a weekend so we could take the kids to the fair; both emails were ignored.  Husband sent an email to Our Attorney asking he...

  Husband emailed The Ex all the way back in June about Son wanting to play football.  The court order reads that if a specific response is not made within 48 hours, it will be considered agreeing to the activity that the other parent is proposing.  The Ex did not respond to the email, thereby agreeing that Son could play football.   In the middle of June, Son was at our house for a weekend and said, "I can't wait for football to start.  When's my first practice?"  We told Son that we weren't sure yet; we would get the information soon enough and once we had it, we'd tell him.   On the Tuesday after Son said he couldn't wait for football to start, we talked to the coach and he said the camp would be starting on Monday.  Husband sent The Ex an email saying that Son would need to be in School City by 3:30pm on Monday with a pair of cleats.  Husband said he wasn't sure if The Ex would have to work overtime so she could drop off Son on Sunday...

  Just found out that Boyfriend's younger brother get arrested about three weeks ago.  He's being charged with battery, disorderly conduct and possession of cocaine.  At some point, he was transferred from the county jail into immigration custody, but has since been released.  About 6-7 years ago, this brother lived with Boyfriend, The Ex, Son and Daughter.   We also learned that Boyfriend is, in fact, getting released for work/child care privileges.  He is clearly violating the terms of this, because if he's being released for child care then there are not to be any other adults in the home while he is "babysitting" his own children.  He and The Ex are in the house together after she gets finished with work; Daughter made a comment to someone about The Ex having to take Boyfriend to "work" at 8pm ( The Ex gets done with work between 1:30-3:30pm, depending on the workload.  There is no reason Boyfriend should be "babysitting" until 8pm. ) ...

  Remember last week when I said it had been quiet and I was enjoying it?  There was no arguing, things were peaceful, we could relax and enjoy life?   Yup...I spoke too soon.   Let's rewind a few days before I jinxed us.  The Ex's dad bought Son a new video game just before dropping the kids off at our house.  Husband was taking them back to The Ex's on Monday and Son got upset because he had not brought his new game with him, since he didn't realize when they left that they weren't coming back home before heading to New City.   Saturday afternoon, we were visiting a friend in the hospital when Son called Husband.  Son asked if he could pick up his game.  Husband said no, not when we weren't home.  Son asked if he could use the spare key to go get the game.  Husband said he wasn't sure where the spare was, but he didn't want the house being opened while we were not there.  Son was irritated by this but too bad - The Ex i...

  This year has been pretty quiet.  Not so much arguing, although I don't really have a specific thing I can pin it to.  Boyfriend is in jail, so maybe there's less fighting in The Ex's house.  We sent a summer calendar a couple of months ago which outlined who got the kids which days, so there would not be arguing month after month about who got which holidays and who got which weekends.  It might also just be due to the court order requiring emails to be read and replied to; it's easier to track what was said, when it was said, etc. so it's harder for The Ex to pick a fight when we can go back and prove what actually happened.   We'll start at the beginning of January.  Husband emailed The Ex on a Friday night about Daughter's basketball tournament which was the following weekend, and Son's ear piercing. ( That experience was covered in the previous blog post. )  Husband asked if The Ex was planning on taking Daughter to all of her games or le...

  It's been quite awhile since I posted.  Things have been unbelievably calm and quiet in regard to The Ex.  I don't have an exact reason for it but there could be any number of reasons:  The Ex is quiet/happier because Boyfriend is in jail right now so there's less arguing in her own household; The Ex doesn't have anything to fight about right this second; The Ex doesn't want to email Husband because she looks stupid every time she clicks "Send."  I don't know, but I'm enjoying the peace and quiet we've got over here.   Going back quite a few months, Son started asking if he could get his ear pierced.  Husband told him that he would talk to The Ex about it and was not going to take Son unless The Ex was okay with it. ( Even though The Ex took Daughter to get her ears double-pierced at the age of 7, right before we picked the kids up on a Sunday afternoon; she called last minute and said to pick up the kids at the mall instead of her house, D...

  I can't remember off the top of my head how much detail I've gone into regarding The Ex's siblings and parents.  We used to get along very well with her oldest sister, the one who always said the kids were better off with us.  Then she got all mad at us for withholding the kids, quit talking to us, deleted us on Facebook, re-added me but we don't really talk the way we used to.  Previously, we would text each other or even get together and hang out at the kids' events ( Hers and ours ).   Saturday night, I get a text message from this sister after I haven't really spoken to her since December when we wished each other a merry Christmas.  The sister wants to know if we have the kids on June 8th.  I say yes, we do.  Sister asks, "Do u think they can come to [her son's] graduation party?"   Let me pause for a moment and explain this.  This woman posted on Facebook in March that she was looking for halls to rent for this party.  She...