What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado
I am the biological mother of a 4 year old boy. Fairly recently, my son's father moved in with his girlfriend. My son spends 57% of the week with him and 43% with me, though we have a joint parenting plan...joint decision making, 50/50 holidays and summer vacations. I also have "right of first resual", if he is not able to care for our son. I am very present and active in my son's life, attending all school functions, doctor's visits, etc. Up until a couple of months ago, I had maintained a good relationship with his father's girlfriend. Polite, friendly, absolutely no issues. I was grateful for the role she played in my child's life and I had made sure that she knew this. A couple of month's ago, my son had a parent/teacher conference scheduled at school. Without consulting me first, he and she made the decision that she should be involved and present at this meeting and all future ones. I handled the situation very well and nobody present knew that this was upsetting to me. Afterwards, I politely attempted to speak to him about this and was immediately shut down. I reached out to her to try and discuss this and was ignored. I also found out (after the fact) that a couple of weeks after this, she kept my son home from school, while his Dad was at work and drove him 70 miles from home to visit with her family. This was all very disturbing to me, but I tried to maintain civility and let the situation ride itself out.
A couple of weeks ago, I called my ex to discuss some travel plans that my son and I had made. She made the decision to answer HIS phone, refused to let me speak to him, and in front of my son (I could hear him in the background and she was spelling curse words directed at me), began to personally insult me and point blank said, "tough sh**", she was going to do whatever she wanted with my child and I would just have to deal with it. I was physically sick about this. I felt so powerless. I made the assumption that they were right and there was nothing that I could do. I do not have the representation of an attorney at this time.
I decided to research this myself and from all the information that I found, discovered that this is not true and I do not have to just accept this. I was told by my former atty, that this could be considered "interference" with my parental rights, as his biological mother. I emailed my ex and expressed this to him, clearly spelling out what was unacceptable to me and received no response. I spoke to the director of my son's school and though I have no doubt that she respects how I feel, was told that it was the school's policy, that they receive some written, legal documentation regarding this, before I could have any say in this situation, as far as they were concerned. I feel that this would all be different if I weren't so active in my son's life. I resent feeling "intimidated" by both of them. This is my child that I love more than life and would spend every second of every day with him, if that were possible. This isn't the reality that we live in however, and I accept that. I absolutely want my son to have a positive relationship with his Dad and his girlfriend, but the bottom line is that I no longer trust her to respect me in front of my son, when I'm not present. Could you please advise me on my rights and where I can go with this?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I am the biological mother of a 4 year old boy. Fairly recently, my son's father moved in with his girlfriend. My son spends 57% of the week with him and 43% with me, though we have a joint parenting plan...joint decision making, 50/50 holidays and summer vacations. I also have "right of first resual", if he is not able to care for our son. I am very present and active in my son's life, attending all school functions, doctor's visits, etc. Up until a couple of months ago, I had maintained a good relationship with his father's girlfriend. Polite, friendly, absolutely no issues. I was grateful for the role she played in my child's life and I had made sure that she knew this. A couple of month's ago, my son had a parent/teacher conference scheduled at school. Without consulting me first, he and she made the decision that she should be involved and present at this meeting and all future ones. I handled the situation very well and nobody present knew that this was upsetting to me. Afterwards, I politely attempted to speak to him about this and was immediately shut down. I reached out to her to try and discuss this and was ignored. I also found out (after the fact) that a couple of weeks after this, she kept my son home from school, while his Dad was at work and drove him 70 miles from home to visit with her family. This was all very disturbing to me, but I tried to maintain civility and let the situation ride itself out.
A couple of weeks ago, I called my ex to discuss some travel plans that my son and I had made. She made the decision to answer HIS phone, refused to let me speak to him, and in front of my son (I could hear him in the background and she was spelling curse words directed at me), began to personally insult me and point blank said, "tough sh**", she was going to do whatever she wanted with my child and I would just have to deal with it. I was physically sick about this. I felt so powerless. I made the assumption that they were right and there was nothing that I could do. I do not have the representation of an attorney at this time.
I decided to research this myself and from all the information that I found, discovered that this is not true and I do not have to just accept this. I was told by my former atty, that this could be considered "interference" with my parental rights, as his biological mother. I emailed my ex and expressed this to him, clearly spelling out what was unacceptable to me and received no response. I spoke to the director of my son's school and though I have no doubt that she respects how I feel, was told that it was the school's policy, that they receive some written, legal documentation regarding this, before I could have any say in this situation, as far as they were concerned. I feel that this would all be different if I weren't so active in my son's life. I resent feeling "intimidated" by both of them. This is my child that I love more than life and would spend every second of every day with him, if that were possible. This isn't the reality that we live in however, and I accept that. I absolutely want my son to have a positive relationship with his Dad and his girlfriend, but the bottom line is that I no longer trust her to respect me in front of my son, when I'm not present. Could you please advise me on my rights and where I can go with this?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?