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My Daughter's Weekend Visit with Her Dad 

So I did what was suggested and told my daughter that she had to see her dad this weekend and then told my ex that I was making her see him. The first day, they talked and she cried a lot, trying to get him to see how she felt and to apologize. She was pretty wrecked after a few hours and told him she had enough and he left. She was still pretty angry and felt that he didn't get it. He left things that she should call him and tell him whether to come the next day. So she asked me if she really had a choice and although I didn't want to force her to see him again, I did the thing that seemed right in the long run and called to ask him if he was really leaving it as her choice. He said yes and then I asked if it was going to be her choice as to whether she wanted to see him the next month, too and suggested that he might not want to set that precedent (especially after telling me that I had to force her to see him. I am still trying to figure out why that was my job and he didn't just let her know that he was coming no matter what). So he agreed with my point and said he would come the next day for a few hours. I know that all of this "flexibility" is in part because he really came down to see a woman he is interested in that lives here and not necessarily to see his daughter but if he visits our daughter, I have to pay for part of the trip. Nice, right?

 

So anyway, my daughter was pretty mad at me for not letting her take the out, but the next day they didn't continue to discuss their issues, just sat around playing cards and watching the olympics for a few hours. And afterwards my daughter said that something I had told her had really helped; that it wasn't her job to teach him a lesson. She said that really helped her feel like she didn't need to keep going over stuff until he got it. That she had said everything she wanted to say and now it was up to him to understand it.

 

Based on what she told me of their conversation, he really didn't get it. He asked for my input before hand and I told him that it would go a long way to cop to that he could have handled things better, but he never seems to want to see his part. Even when his 14 year old daughter is telling him that she is afraid of him, he started by denying that he never yelled at her. (Hey, everyone yells, but he actually rages and it IS quite scary) He did finally admit to her that he needs to manage his anger better, so I guess that is progress.

 

So thanks to everyone who helped me get to this place. He still told her that there needs to be a modification to the custody arrangement, but at least I did my part to uphold what we currently have.

by GirlfriendsGuidetoDivorce  354 Posts 

Posted on 8/18/2008 9:29 PM
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Comments for "My Daughter's Weekend Visit with Her Dad"  (3) (You must be logged in to answer)




Thanks both of you for the wise words and the support. How is it that I hear from such smart and insightful people on this site and so many of us ended up with such idiotic partners?

I am really proud of my daughter for speaking her mind and then for having the maturity to let go of her anger.

Right now, I need to get back to a place where I'm not angry at him, either. It felt so much better to be indifferent!

I just read an amazing book called Left to Tell about a woman that survived the Rwandan genocide and if she can let go of her anger toward the people that killed her family then I can let go of my anger toward my ex.

In the meantime, I have a close relationship with my wonderful daughter, and that is something to be happy about!
by GirlfriendsGuidetoDivorce   354 Posts
Posted on 8/19/2008 9:26 AM
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I'm glad that the meeting went as well as can be exspected. But people like him and my x will NEVER get it. I haven't seen pigs in the sky yet. They will always be right in their eyes and no one will ever tell them different. And if they try they are waisting their breath As far as paying for the trip- ya that is crap. My x took my 15 yr old from this last visitaion early and expected me to pay my % of trip. My attorney said no way, I only pay for the getting girls here and taking them home on the visitaion schedule. Not his schedule. I also have to pay that jerk child support the while summer when I have them. So I am paying for them twice. (Please I am not against paying the child support BUT when he makes $9,000 a month?) I have to buy them a wardrobe for my house and everything they need as kids, when he already has all that that I made happen all those years.
As far as your daughter- glad you told her that it wasn't up to her to teach him a lesson. Believe me he will learn- the hard way. What goes around comes around. But is all we can do is still try to keep our kids from being hurt. And that is really hard some days to not tell our kids they have jerks for fathers. I look at my x as just a sperm donor and that is really sad, but I feel that is all that he is because a father wouldn't do what he has done and truly love his kids. It is all about his precouse money and image. Just make sure to tell your daughter she has better things to dream, do, and make her life better without waisting her time worring anout how he is a jerk and not feel like a victom to her fathers crap. Make her life better than what he has become. keep in touch
by mouse   75 Posts
Posted on 8/19/2008 9:05 AM
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