From a man's point of view - Under these circumstances: If I am taking the kids off your hands and trying to free up your time
See, what I am confused about is this. Flo's H seems to be working towards a place of joint custody (two bedroom apartment, extended overnights) and that is much different than "taking the kids off your hands to free up time". What Flo does when her H has the children is none of his business. Nobody has really expanded upon the fact that Flo cares for the children, home schools and tries to work except for the days her H has the children. I don't know, this doesn't sit right with me. Her days w/o the children are hers to do what she wants with... be it work, go out, sleep or whatever IMO.
so that you can get some work done to help us out of the tough financial situation we're in... How do you think I'm going to react or feel if I perceive you are taking that time to get dressed up and go out to have fun instead? I would be angry. I would be resentful. With that anger and resentment I could justify to myself why I'm walking away. "See! This proves it! She is just as selfish and manipulative as I always though! I'm here busting my butt to get a handle of the financial mess we're in... and what does she do? She dumps the kids so she can go out and enjoy herself. To hell with that!"
Didn't Flo say that her H was providing restaurant meals for the children quite frequently? The only reason Flo seemed resentful of that was because the children didn't want "home" food NOT because of the spending. Restaurant food is expensive and if he cut that out then maybe he could put more towards debt. But Flo can't tell him that nor should she and vice versa.
She is not dumping the kids. A pattern is being set for joint custody as per her H's request to have more/equal time with the children.
I don't know... maybe I am missing the main point but this all feels very strange to me.
