What is the name of your state? California
Hope everyone had a good Christmas
My ex and his wife are pushing the issue of our 12yr to babysit her sisters ages 9yr and 6yrs. They started two weeks ago with leaving them alone for about an hour. When I expressed my concern (safety being the largest) because the oldest has NO emergency training etc and is not very mature, I was ignored. My daughter came to me after the first time it happened and told me she was uncomfortable and didn't want to be responsible because she was afraid something would happen to her sisters while she was alone with them.
Apparently, they left the girls alone again last Saturday for almost 2hrs while they went to the store (in the evening) and paid all three girls for being "so good". When I asked my oldest one if she was ok with it, she said no but she was "more afraid to call me and have her dad find out that I knew they were left alone because she would be in trouble with her dad and step-mom". Those are her words, not mine.
This idea of theirs never entered their heads until a few weeks ago we were in mediation and the mediator told him if he was going to have the girls when he was working then he had to provide a babysitter for the children. Then *bamm* all of a sudden they are now pushing the 12yr old to babysit.
I am afraid they are working up to leaving them all alone while they are both at work in Feb when the girls are off-track and they are supposed to be with him for a week.
Am I being silly or are my concerns substantiated? What can I do , if anything, to stop this from continuing?
My next issue is that the step-mom and my ex are punishing the 9yr old because last weekend she missed me and was crying. They put her in time-out and told her that "she was making them feel bad because she was missing her mom and that she wasnt allowed to miss her mom since she had only been gone one day". Those again are her words and not mine. When I picked them up on Christmas, the 9yr old ran out of his car with tears streaming down her face that she was so happy to be home. She was crying so hard she almost threw up. This happens every weekend they spend with their dad.
This needs to stop and I am unsure of how to deal with both of these issues. Can someone point me in the right direction as far as legal ways to address these? The mediator already recommended counseling to my ex for the kids but he says the kids are just fine.
Thank you for any advice you can give.
Hope everyone had a good Christmas
My ex and his wife are pushing the issue of our 12yr to babysit her sisters ages 9yr and 6yrs. They started two weeks ago with leaving them alone for about an hour. When I expressed my concern (safety being the largest) because the oldest has NO emergency training etc and is not very mature, I was ignored. My daughter came to me after the first time it happened and told me she was uncomfortable and didn't want to be responsible because she was afraid something would happen to her sisters while she was alone with them.
Apparently, they left the girls alone again last Saturday for almost 2hrs while they went to the store (in the evening) and paid all three girls for being "so good". When I asked my oldest one if she was ok with it, she said no but she was "more afraid to call me and have her dad find out that I knew they were left alone because she would be in trouble with her dad and step-mom". Those are her words, not mine.
This idea of theirs never entered their heads until a few weeks ago we were in mediation and the mediator told him if he was going to have the girls when he was working then he had to provide a babysitter for the children. Then *bamm* all of a sudden they are now pushing the 12yr old to babysit.
I am afraid they are working up to leaving them all alone while they are both at work in Feb when the girls are off-track and they are supposed to be with him for a week.
Am I being silly or are my concerns substantiated? What can I do , if anything, to stop this from continuing?
My next issue is that the step-mom and my ex are punishing the 9yr old because last weekend she missed me and was crying. They put her in time-out and told her that "she was making them feel bad because she was missing her mom and that she wasnt allowed to miss her mom since she had only been gone one day". Those again are her words and not mine. When I picked them up on Christmas, the 9yr old ran out of his car with tears streaming down her face that she was so happy to be home. She was crying so hard she almost threw up. This happens every weekend they spend with their dad.
This needs to stop and I am unsure of how to deal with both of these issues. Can someone point me in the right direction as far as legal ways to address these? The mediator already recommended counseling to my ex for the kids but he says the kids are just fine.
Thank you for any advice you can give.