Texas. NCP of D7.
EOW, Thurs 6p-8p. 1-2 wk stretches for holidays and summer.
Ex is very high-conflict.
What do y’all think of nightly phone calls? We had a court date in June 2017 when everything was getting finalized right before D7’s first extended time in summer with me. At the time, I only had 1-2 overnights a month.
Ex has a weird attachment disorder with D7 and was terrified to let her stay more than one night with me. She told the judge that D7 (D5 at the time) was too scared to be away from her, and that she cries and cries to her about the 1-2 overnights she had with me. “She’s not ready to be away from me!” (D7 has always been completely fine with me.)
The judge was over her and said, “Fine, on the nights D5 is with dad, you can call between 7p-730p and talk for a max of 10 min.” This was placed in our final order and goes for both of us.
The way it’s been for the past two years is I’ll call 2-3 times a week on the long stretches that I don’t see her. I’ll usually just get out the basics and talk for about 3 min. Ex takes complete advantage and has called EVERY SINGLE NIGHT she is with me, and talks for the entire 10 min. (Even every single Saturday when I only have her for my 48hr weekend.) I always give the phone straight to D7 and tell her to find somewhere quiet to talk to her mom.
Ex rarely answers when I call, it’s usually several minutes passed when she calls back. D7 is often in a loud place and we can barely hear each other. She is very robotic with one-word answers with me, yet I’ve heard her tell all the details of her day with me to her mom.
After one call, D7 was crying because Ex bragged of all the fun things she was doing with her family, and she was so upset to be missing out, stuck with dad.
Most of their conversation is Ex telling D7 how she misses her so much and of all the things she is going to buy for D7 when she “gets to come back to her home”. There’s been times I’ve heard Ex doing a countdown with her of “how many days until you can come back home to me!”
D7 has told me that when I call, Ex stands over her and listens to the conversation. She told me that her mom has to tell her what to say sometimes. I’ve heard them whispering back and forth, with D7 scared to talk to me.
Is all of this a little ridiculous? Does anyone else have to deal with this? I feel like it’s so overbearing and just feeds Ex’s psychological problems. I would like to have this downgraded as D7 does not need this call every single day. She does not ever bring it up or ask about it. It seems disruptive and obnoxious to me. What do attorneys and judges think about limiting something like this?
EOW, Thurs 6p-8p. 1-2 wk stretches for holidays and summer.
Ex is very high-conflict.
What do y’all think of nightly phone calls? We had a court date in June 2017 when everything was getting finalized right before D7’s first extended time in summer with me. At the time, I only had 1-2 overnights a month.
Ex has a weird attachment disorder with D7 and was terrified to let her stay more than one night with me. She told the judge that D7 (D5 at the time) was too scared to be away from her, and that she cries and cries to her about the 1-2 overnights she had with me. “She’s not ready to be away from me!” (D7 has always been completely fine with me.)
The judge was over her and said, “Fine, on the nights D5 is with dad, you can call between 7p-730p and talk for a max of 10 min.” This was placed in our final order and goes for both of us.
The way it’s been for the past two years is I’ll call 2-3 times a week on the long stretches that I don’t see her. I’ll usually just get out the basics and talk for about 3 min. Ex takes complete advantage and has called EVERY SINGLE NIGHT she is with me, and talks for the entire 10 min. (Even every single Saturday when I only have her for my 48hr weekend.) I always give the phone straight to D7 and tell her to find somewhere quiet to talk to her mom.
Ex rarely answers when I call, it’s usually several minutes passed when she calls back. D7 is often in a loud place and we can barely hear each other. She is very robotic with one-word answers with me, yet I’ve heard her tell all the details of her day with me to her mom.
After one call, D7 was crying because Ex bragged of all the fun things she was doing with her family, and she was so upset to be missing out, stuck with dad.
Most of their conversation is Ex telling D7 how she misses her so much and of all the things she is going to buy for D7 when she “gets to come back to her home”. There’s been times I’ve heard Ex doing a countdown with her of “how many days until you can come back home to me!”
D7 has told me that when I call, Ex stands over her and listens to the conversation. She told me that her mom has to tell her what to say sometimes. I’ve heard them whispering back and forth, with D7 scared to talk to me.
Is all of this a little ridiculous? Does anyone else have to deal with this? I feel like it’s so overbearing and just feeds Ex’s psychological problems. I would like to have this downgraded as D7 does not need this call every single day. She does not ever bring it up or ask about it. It seems disruptive and obnoxious to me. What do attorneys and judges think about limiting something like this?
