JF, take the break first. What does it look like to your kids? To your W? To anyone else that asks? It looks like you're taking a few days away by yourself. It's not abandonment. It's not giving up. It's not leaving your kids to the wolves. It's a mini-vacation from your stressful life.
I highly recommend it.
Picking a L is tiring if you ask me. You have to interview them just like you would any other new hire. It takes time and energy and emotionally it's draining. Be warned that many of them will try very hard to play the emotional cards with YOU. They try to manipulate YOU based on your emotions to keep the case going. I don't recommend that.
When I asked my C for a list of lawyers, she handed me a list of 4. My friends handed me many, but the C had been professionally doing this a long time and knew me and my goals. The first three, she said were good and would have the kids best interest at the forefront, especially one of them. She said this last one? He's an A**hole if that's what you need. He's the best A**hole in the county and possibly the state. You decide.
LOL. As if there was a choice. I only cared about my kids. I went for the L that would have my kids at heart even above my own feelings. She very much lived up to that and I'm glad I chose her.
By taking the time to get away, you get a chance to recharge before facing the various personalities of the lawyers. If you don't, you may find that they know how to push your buttons and make you a puppet because you're too tired to stop them and it sounds good at the time.
AJ
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" MLK Put the glass down... "Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
