Mar 11 12:00pm G: Did we discuss what day I would be taking the kids to daycare?
Mar 11 12:38pm Me: In your text you said Monday. Why?
Mar 11 12:41pm G: Sorry. I have had a hard time concentrating. The ER doc said I have sinusitis.I get extreme headaches. I'll take the kids in tomorrow morning.
Mar 11 1:07pm Me: When did you have to go to the hospital?
Mar 11 1:12pm G: last week on Wednesday.
Mar 11 1:21 G: it was the 7th. My headache was very intense and I was throwing up. they did a CAT scan to see what was going on and decided it was a bad case of sinusitus.
Mar 11 1:22pm G: who taught S to say O.M.G.?
Mar 11 1:23pm Me: Donno. Never heard her say it before. Sorry you are sick.
Mar 11 1:24pm G The first time I heard her say it was this morning.
Mar 11 6:17pm G: can you come and get the kids? I have an extreme headache and I don't want to take it out on the kids.
Mar 11 6:18pm Me: Ok. Coming from my moms. Ill leave in a few mins.
Mar 11 6:18pm G: sorry. and a big thank you.
**When I picked up the kids I had g/f buckle in a screaming, crying, S while I pulled G aside. I told him how shitty it was that the kids hadn't had 3 nights with him since mid January. And now when they should have he cxled Friday night. and now had me pick them up on what should have been their last night. I told him he should have pushed through until bedtime since bedtime is 7pm anyway (which was when I got there to pick them up) He defended his headache and how much pain he was in and then also told me at his house they go to bed at 9pm!! Oh, and he handed me $4.50 to "buy the kids some burgers" because they hadn't even had dinner yet!!! I was LIVID!! It took everything I had not to breakdown in tears for them! I bought them drive thru crap burgers when they barely touched. And got them home, jammies on, teeth brushed and in bed. Then I emailed him. Probably shouldn't have but I am so sick of "playing nice". F him!
On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 8:25 PM, A wrote:
G,
You already know I am upset. Upset over the fact that your kids miss you terribly but you seem to have more important things to do than seeing them. Doing homework, morning the loss of a possible pregnancy – even though you have kids who are alive and breathing and NEED you. And God only knows what else. Blowing them off because you have a headache is low. Like I said, I know you are in pain. I have been there. But it sucks for them. What’s worse is you STILL can’t control your anger and would take it out on them. OF COUSE you can always call me if you feel you can’t control your anger. I would rather them suffer not seeing you than the heartache and torment if you were to use your anger on them. But the situation is still shitty. Whatever. It is what it is.
But now I have to say how APPALLED I am of learning the kids schedule with you. I picked them up from your house at 7 and they hadn't even had dinner!!! I guess all that posturing to the child counselor about how you try to make there schedule as close to normal as possible was just that. Posturing and lying for court. Because you wanted 50/50 custody of the kids. Of which you can’t even handle the current arrangement.
Let me explain it to you. I don’t have the kids at a 7pm bedtime so I can have less time with them or some time to myself. They go to bed at 7pm because they get up at 5:30 am for daycare. They NEED to go to bed at that time so they can have enough sleep. And I don’t switch it on weekends because kids NEED consistency. I could give you parenting books, articles, and even parade a team of doctors in from of you and they will all agree that kids need consistency. A a 9pm bedtime at your house is not consistent. It HURTS them. They become irritable, grouchy. They act out more. The have more melt downs. If you think one night a week isn’t going to hurt them, it does!!! They come home from your house a mess! And it takes me several days for them to catch up on the sleep they lost. Not just by going to bed late but ALSO MISSING NAPS! They are SOOO sleep deprived at your house and come home an emotional wreck! It breaks my heart to see it.
You told me once to be a parent. Well, dammit, follow your own advice! BE a parent. Stop canceling on them. Stop putting your needs first. And for GODS SAKE, give them dinner at a decent hour and bedtime at their normal time!!!
S went to bed with a sad monkey again. I’m sad she has a sad monkey. It breaks my heart to hear that she is sad. And all she wants is a daddy who is there for her.
Did my words sting a little? Good. Maybe it will make you do something about it.
**S at bedtime hugging her book and her sad monkey...
Update:
Mar 12 10:28am G: I ended up in the ER again last night. Thank you for taking the kids.
On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 12:51 PM, G wrote:
A,
I understand what you are saying. I see that you are upset. I see that S ad T need me and miss me. I do try to keep the daily schedule, except that I don’t get up at 5:30. We usually get up at 6:30. I try to get them to nap at noon. Usually they play with each other until 2 then sleep for an hour and a half to two hours. Then we have a snack. We eat dinner before 6. Then at 7 I put them to bed. Again they play for 2 hours before going to sleep. I don’t understand why, other than they are sharing a room as they will be doing whenever they visit me. We do active things morning and afternoons; the mall, the parks, McDonalds playground. It doesn’t matter what we do, they don’t want to sleep. Do you have any recommendations that might help? I have put them in time out, I have put them back in their beds without saying a word, I have told them to stay in bed, I have closed their door, I have left the door open, I have left little lights on and turned them off. I have locked the door to the bathroom, and to my room so they can’t sneak out without being caught. I have tried tiring them out with a 30 minute dance party and 15 minutes of cuddling. I have read them bedtime stories and followed the bedtime routine. I am out of ideas and it’s a much calmer and less frustrating for all of us when I put them to bed at 9. So do you have any ideas? What am I missing? Ever since we split it has been this way for them.
In the future, why not ask a couple questions about what you can do to help me and what’s going on before berating me. You will gain a little more insight and might be able to help. The berating causes defensive behavior. I would rather keep the door for communication open. That said, I didn’t realize it was so late. I felt bad and gave you a couple bucks so you could get them something quick when I realized the time. I will have the kids back as soon as I have a mostly pain free day or two. I cried when I told Savannah you were coming to get them. We cried together. That stung far worse than anything you can say. Hearing her cry for me in the car stung too. Please stop with the criticism and berating because it doesn’t help either of us or the kids.
Thank you for any suggestions you have.
-G
On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 3:39 PM, A wrote:
I don’t really need to ask questions to see the importance of your children to you.
12/27 - Suppose to drop kids in the AM at your house, you called and said to take them to school. You picked them up at 4 from school instead of spending the day with them…….for some unknown reason
12/30 Suppose to have kids all day, took them to school at 9 am instead of spending the day with them for some reason
01/06 - 01/09 The only time you have taken them for 3 overnights so far this year.
01/17 - you wanted to return the children after one nite, but both had a fever so you kept them for a second nite and day. You were actually suppose to have them 3 nites..but you opted out of the third nite on 01/18 and my family had to step in to watch them the next day. You said you had plans. It was your 3 nite parenting week so something else was more important than them- you certainly didn’t plan around them.
01/23 - You requested the day before that I not drop them off to you, instead you would pick them later in the day from daycare. However, they got sick and I had to drop off early that day afterall. I gave you money and insurance card and you still refused to take T to the Dr. You told me to take time off work if I wanted T to go to the Dr. That was real caring on your part.
01/24 - I asked if you would watch the kids the rest of the week since T was on breathing treatments and couldn’t go to school. In a nutshell, you said you only would if there was a monetary gain for you (i.e. S deduction) You didn't want the kids.. you wanted the financial impact you could get out of having them. You didn’t take them since I wouldn’t agree. I guess you 'really' wanted to see your kids, huh?
01/28 - You called and said you would not be taking the kids next week. No explanation – Poor kids-something was more important….You didn’t take them all week.
02/09 - You finally saw the kids after over 2 weeks (15 days)!
02/27 - You called and said you were not feeling well and your back hurt and you didn’t know when you would take the kids again. No 3 nite parenting time again. 12 days went by before they saw you again.
03/04 - You ask for the kids for 3 nites while your dad is in town. The next day you call and cut it back to two days because you are going spend a day grieving on an arbitrary due date for a chemical pregnancy.
03/11 - The 3 nites gets down to one nite because you aren’t feeling well.
Do you see the pattern that I see? Do you see the pattern that the kids live? I am fed up with all of the excuses. what you say.. does not match what you do and your actions are speaking louder than your words. Your children are being hurt by it. And frankly I don't care if my words hurt you. You NEED to hear these things cuz then it MIGHT make you see what you are doing. But I wont hold my breath.
Also, I was upset to hear you cried with S when she had to come home last night. By doing so you wound her up even more and made it a "bad" thing she has to go home to mommy. You tell her you are sick and she has to go home but you will call her the next day and see her as soon as possible., You make it sound like a positive thing. That is what being a parent is all about.
As for ideas of what to do about them not sleeping… Put them to bed separately and move them together later at nite when you go to bed. They are still little. And Nap them separately. They need their sleep. Its not rocket science and they are suffering from the lack of sleep. And BTW... kids who are OVERTIRED will have a harder time going to sleep. But you SHOULD know that by now.
Fron george to me:
Thank you for the reminder I didn’t need. Just when I thought we were on a road to open communication you decide you want my attention. Is this sudden attack a way for you to upset me? What is your goal? Are you trying to stop the communication we had going? Do you want every exchange to be hurtful? The kids will be either sharing a room or possibly sharing a room with me and Goliath if all I can afford is a studio. That is the reality. Maybe if you made them share a room, they’d get it and start following a pattern. Stop dictating, you asked for a divorce, so guess what? you no longer have any say in my life. Do you really want a fight every time we talk?
Personally I am sick of it. I am done being angry for a day every time we talk, text, or email. I won’t be. I am over you. If you don’t have a helpful suggestion within reason i.e. keeping them separate for bed and nap times when that’s not possible. Keep your mouth-email-text to yourself.
The only part of your email that I feel I need to respond to is March 9th. The fact that you aren’t sensitive to mine and Sam’s loss shows the type of person you are. It would have been great for me to have the kids, in fact I wanted to have them. Then as the 9th grew closer I could see the effect on Samantha. She was extremely upset and I needed to be there for her. If you can’t understand that, put yourself in her shoes for a sec and imagine how you would’ve felt being unmarried, childless and over 30. She didn’t think she could even have kids and suddenly she was pregnant. Don’t make light and don’t try to diagnose Sam’s miscarriage. You aren’t a doctor and I am sure I left information out. I needed to be there for her. Keep in mind that little insults and things like that will only make things much worse for your relationship with Samantha and I.
Don’t reply unless you have something positive to say. I will contact you with my new address as soon as it becomes necessary.
On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 6:26 PM, A wrote:
I DONT dictate what you do!! You ASKED for my suggestion!!!!!!!!
I don't give a shit if you are pissed, happy, sad, or feel whatever. As I have said MANY times, I am NOT out to get you. I want NOTHING to do with your life. EXCEPT if/when it affects out children. YOU affect our children. YOU are going to put them in therapy. YOU are the one who is not there for them. YOU are the one screwing up. And I will NOT apoligize or feel sorry for calling you out on it.
As for the pregnancy I NEVER said I didn't sypmathize with S. I am sure she is sad. And I am sure you are sad. Losing a pregnancy is a sad thing. BUT had I lost a pregnancy I would want to hold dear the children that I DO have. I would want them close. Touch them, feel them, and be thankful for them in my life. I wouldn't push them away. I wouldn't NOT see them like you did when she lost the baby and now like you did last week. I don't sympatize with YOU. Because I can't fathom NOT wanting to be around them in a situation like this. And yes, you told me all about it. You asked for me to explain things to you. You asked me questions. YOU put in into your girlfrind of 2 months pregnancy when we weren't even divorced. So screw you.