Yes. In the car. The whole drive. The kids could hear her.
I would hope they were wearing headphones and watching a DVD in the back seat (which is what she usually does for them on road trips), but I saw no evidence of that this time. I won't trust her to use common sense anymore.
As for the remainder of the day it went very well, despite the rocky start. For that I am thankful.
In a post mortem reflection on xW's spew-fest yesterday, I can concur with the impression I got during the incident. I believe she was angry and jealous that I was interrupting her plans and desires to have our S's honor her new H and his father for Father's Day.
She had broached the subject through our S's the weekend prior (see previous post) and in a subsequent email to me asking me what the terms of our agreement were regarding the particular holiday. Her objective all along was to bluff me and coerce me into giving her all or part of the day. I tried to be flexible with her, but that wasn't enough for her apparently. So on the very morning in question she made up this ploy saying she had dictated to me a plan earlier in the week. And she sent an email to try to claim she had put it in writing, but she sent the email right as she was calling me.
Quite simply, she tried to pull a fast one. And she tried to browbeat me into either driving all the way out to OM's place or (better yet for her) giving up altogether. Having failed to coerce me through our S's earlier in the week, she turned on her full nasty mode, pulled out all the stops, and used every cliche in her arsenal. She sang a song I have heard over and over again these last three years -- but I have learned the counter-harmonics to it in that time.
Yes, it was very stressful. But I held my calm, relatively speaking. I worry about my S's, however. I tried to take their minds completely off of what they might have witnessed.
I continue to pray, every day, she would learn to grow up, and act like a sane person. I pray for her to come to understand and accept that a father does indeed have just as much right to their children as the mother (exceptions aside, of course). For my own sake I would like there to be no more of this drama. For our children I wish for there to be peace. I can't do this alone, it has to be mutual.
It's funny, I was just thinking the evening before all this conflagration erupted that I truly and deeply love my two little ones, and I am so very happy being their father. I think if I had to sum up the bright spots in my mortal existence on this little mudball we call planet Earth, S9 and S5 are at the top.
I have all along planned to be and wanted be a father, but it was just one of many goals I held for my life. At one time I would have been amazed had you told me this back then, but more than any award or accolade in career or other endeavor, my children are the best achievements in my life so far. Family means so very much to me.
