MLCer and EA w/ OW

[Jer2911]

I think you might be right re: the 50/50 split... I can easily see us trying that and then her calling me frequently to pick up the kids from school and handle all of the evening stuff on her nights because she has to work late again.

I've already consulted with a lawyer and we are going to first work on the co-parenting plan in some joint counseling sessions with the hope that we can come to agreement on most of it before we have to pay for a mediator. We will have to work with a mediator to have the formal co-parenting agreement drawn up so it can go through the court system to be legally binding. When I suggested all of this she freaked out about going through the court system because of the legal costs -- she actually thought we should just come up with a co-parenting plan, agree on it with basically a handshake and be done with it. I am insisting on a legally binding document to protect all of us -- but of course, especially to protect myself and the kids.

Your point about MLCers not liking the bird-nesting idea makes a lot of sense... it does require an enormous amount of maturity on the part of both parents... and right now my W is acting like a 17 year old in the body of a 45 year old. My guess is that she doesn't like it because it would require her to make a sacrifice and be more of an adult than she is being right now.