I have an appointment with my attorney tomorrow afternoon.
On Tuesday morning, as I was dropping Jordan off with his mother (according to our oparenting agreement, we each get first crack at childcare/babysitting duties when the other needs it), she remarked “You can pick him up tomorrow after work.”
I asked why, and she said “Today’s his birthday. We’re having a party at 5:30.” I didn’t make a fuss because I wanted to consult my attorney regarding this. I had planned to have a party with Jordan that evening (cake, singing, and gifts) following dinner. According to the Amended Settlement Agreement, he was entitled to spend from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. with me. Since this was his annual 2-week visit, I figured TW would have him for most of the day we (Jordan and I) would make an evening of it (I don’t get back to town from work until around 5:00 p.m.)
I tried to get in to see Nancy (the paralegal who is handling my case) but she was occupied until much later than 5:00 p.m. I was advised to call TW and ask for an extra day at the end of the 2-week period to compensate for the missing day.
When I got home, I called TW’s number and got her answering machine. The message was:
[ul]"[SD] and I moved out of town, but if you’d like to leave a message, go for it! That’s cool."[/ul]
I decided that the message might just be an attempt at humor, and that I would discover if she had already moved out of town when I went to pick up Jordan the next day.
After work Wednesday, I drove to TW’s house to get Jordan. There were new toys strewn about the yard and even more visible in the house when TW answered the door. Jordan at first appeared eager to go with daddy, but then TW asked Jordan if he didn’t want to go with daddy after all. He wouldn’t answer until she pressed him, but he quietly said “No.” TW would not let Jordan go with me, and told me that she would call me when he was ready to go. It looked like Jordan wanted to stay and marvel over his new toys, so I left without making an issue of it.
Shortly before seven o’clock, TW called and told me that Jordan did not want to see his daddy. She then went on to accuse me of abusing my son, and that I should get counseling. She would not discuss letting Jordan spend any more time with me until this weekend. She then started saying even uglier things, so I hung up on her.
Thursday afternoon I went to the my attorney’s office, hoping to get a walk-in appointment with either him or the paralegal who’s working my case. The paralegal was not available, and neither was My attorney. The secretary told me that my attorney had left a message to the effect that if the Amended Settlement Agreement doesn’t specify the dates of our (Jordan and mine) 2-week visit, then I should get a signed agreement with TW’s signature under it that specifies the dates.
I made an appointment with my paralegal for Monday to discuss what possible actions I can take to ensure Jordan gets his 2-week visit with me, among other things.
When I called TW, I just got her answering machine, but no-one answered. Since our last communication ended with me hanging up on her due to her abusive language, I decided not to leave a message, but to wait until my appointment with the paralegal on Monday.
On Saturday morning I had a message on my phone. In it, you can hear TW coaching Jordan to say “Robert, come get me!” His actual words were “Come git me Bobert!”
I called her to see if we could restart the clock on our 2-week visit beginning today. Unfortunately, she does not want to comply with the Amended Settlement Agreement, nor does she want to let Jordan visit without asking him (at the door) “Do you want to go with Robert?” (When she’s in a bad mood, TW doesn’t like it when I call him “Son” or when he calls me “Daddy”).
I hope I have some legal recourse apart from just letting her do whatever the hell she wants.
Thanks for letting me gripe.
~~Baloo