It's been nine days since my last post. Last week, we got hit with my wife's proposed child support plan. Her lawyer asked mine if I would accept it. I won't, as it's one-sided.
We also got hit with the discovery interrogatories and requests for documents. Many pages of questions to answer (mainly financial) but unfortunately questions regarding sexual relations and talking to other women outside of my marriage. I fooled around with one woman one time (not intercourse) and have had a couple of emotional affairs and have flirted with some women in the past four years. I will answer honestly, of course, but wish my W wouldn't have to relive that pain.
My plan right now is to simply respond to my wife's movements in order to show that I'm not controlling and power-hungry the way I used to be.
On Sunday, my W let me have the boys for eight hours so I could take them to my niece's birthday party. We all had a blast and I had good conversations with my MIL. However, a few weird things happened during this weekend:
My MIL texted me that my W had gotten a present for my niece and it was left in my garage. I wondered who had been in my garage (my wife and I have a mutual RO) and if they had been in my home. Also, along with the present was a box of some meaningful items (a gift my W gave me while dating, a pic of me and my son on my first Father's Day, three marriage books). On Sunday, when I dropped the boys off with my MIL, she gave me a bag full of papers from throughout the M (financial statements, bills, even an old anniversary card where she said she would always love me). I was confused about this then, but now I assume it was for the interrogatories and document requests.
This past Tuesday I texted my MIL to see if I could have the boys for three hours for my dad's birthday. She and my W agreed, so I picked them up at 6 from a local store, had a good conversation with my MIL, and had a great evening with them. When I got the boys ready to go, my younger S started crying and said he wanted to stay with me. When I got to the drop-off-location and tried putting him in my MIL's van, he clung to me, cried, etc. My MIL said my W had already given her permission to let me keep the boys overnight if they wanted, so my older S went to his mother's while my younger S came home with me.
Had a great night with him, but in the morning he cried again and wanted to stay with me. I told him I'd go to work and ask my boss if I could have the day off. My plan was to text my MIL and make sure this was okay before making plans with my S. However, when I got to work I had missed phone calls from my parents (they live next to me and my S was with my dad). My FIL was at my parents' house wanting to take my S, my S was crying, and my dad wasn't sure what to do.
I went home, consoled my S, had a good conversation with my FIL. However, while talking with him my MIL kept calling him and, very rudely, told him to simply take my S and come home. Then she got on the phone with me, was rude to me, said that the night before was a gift and that I need to earn my W's trust and that this wasn't doing it. She threatened to call the cops. THEN my W called my FIL, yelled at him about bringing my S home, not letting him be at my parents', and threatened to call the cops too.
My FIL was basically on my side and realized my S just wanted to spend more time with me. I wasn't sure why my W and MIL were so upset since I wasn't keeping my S from them at all. I had simply asked what the problem was with having him for the day if he wanted to spend it with me and reminded my MIL that my W and I right now have the same legal rights to our children.
I guess my W and MIL were afraid I was trying to control the situation and keep my S from them, but I wasn't. This all happened around the 9 o'clock hour. The night before, when I made plans with my MIL for the pick-up the next morning, I had thought we agreed on 10:30 AM. However, she had told her husband anytime between 7 - 10:30, which is ridiculous... so I guess that's where their anger came from.
I left the whole situation feeling very down because I had never heard my W be that angry before. It made me feel like all the small positive things that have happened in the past few weeks have meant nothing as it still seemed like she is totally against reconciliation.
Any thoughts? Are my posts too long?
Me: 29 W: 29 S: 7 S: 4 M: 8 BD 10/15/14 (Order of Protection) D filed 10/14 Letting God change my life. Doing the hard work to be the H my W always needed and to be the father my children deserve.