What kind of a father would fail to figure out how to provide childcare for his kids on his custody days?? Or move far away from their school after breaking up their family with an affair. |
WTF why do you think OP’s job is to “help” this man who was perfectly able to help himself to an entirely new family … Granted we don’t know the exact neighborhoods, but there are almost always more affordable rental options. Two kids in a bedroom and the baby in the parents room. This is the dad’s responsibility not the mom’s. He can readjust his work schedule, get his new wife to help, or pay for before/aftercare. Or he can formally acknowledge the increased custody time to OP and pay more child support. The day he decided to walk out on OP and their kids is the day he completely lost the entitlement to OP’s “help” beyond that which is strictly necessary. This isn’t an emergency where the kids need OP to step in. It is their dad’s decision to prioritize himself and not his kids. OP owes him zero in this scenario. |
This. And he has his new woman to cater to him and cover for his shortcomings. Let her suffer. |
|
When the kids are with OP on the weekend, does the dad have them Monday afternoon through Wednesday morning?
She the kids are with the dad on the weekend, he has them Monday morning through Wed morning? On those weekends maybe the dad can drop the kids off at OP’s house on Sunday after dinner. That’s one school morning figured out. For the rest, OP, how old are your kids? Can they walk to school? In your shoes, until the kids can get into before- and after-care, if their dad asks you to take them those mornings and afternoons, I’d do it for the rest of this year and the ask him what the plan is for next year. What will he do otherwise? Do you want the kids to see their dad? I absolutely realize this is not your problem to solve, but these are your kids. What’s in their best interest? What happens during the summer? What’s the custody schedule, where do the kids spend their time? When is the new baby’s coming? That’s going to upend things as well. Has he talked to you about the due date and you taking/keeping the kids while that whole childbirth thing goes down? What about after the birth? Is he going to take the kids right away? He needs to talk this through with you and make sure he has a plan if you can’t be or aren’t willing to be on standby. |
OP taking the kids for an extra night or two when the the baby is arriving is reasonable. Assuming she will do all school pickup and drop off for the REST OF THE YEAR (almost 4 months) os not reasonable, at all. |
Fathers with custody don't have to drive that distance back and forth and they'd have the kids at a closer school. He has to work. So, it makes sense for the kids to go to school near him. She's refusing to work with him at all and that hurts the kids. Most people cannot just work 4-5 hours day. |
OP doesn't want her kids except the scheduled time. OP hasn't come back. He has them the bulk of the weekdays which is a strange set up. |
She has to work too … and I’m sorry you cannot wrap your head around this but it is the responsibility of the custodial parent to figure out how to get the kids to school on their days. |
Or… he could just get childcare now. Yes, it will probably be more expensive, he may be looking at a nanny, but that is, of course what happens when you choose to move away from your children. |
|
There is some woman hating troll on this thread. OP appears to be a working mom that has adjusted her schedule so that she can care for her kids and work. He moved away, he is not doing most of the work, he has started a new family. It is not reasonable to uproot the kids to make his life easier.
OP has been nothing but reasonable. She started this thread because she is trying to put her children first and she is worried that flaky, yes flaky, affair having, new partner, new baby, dad will not figure it out. Many supportive posters are reminding OP that her ex is an adult that is responsible for his children and, as a minimum, he needs to actually ask for help if he needs it. OP - it is hard balancing protecting your kids and holding boundaries with an ex. Kudos to you. |
Then, why does he not want before and aftercare - which would cover the time he needs? |
Because he would have to pay for it, and he stupidly got himself more children than he can afford. |
He is paying child support and having the kids half time. That’s a lot. He should go back to court and get a modification for child care and the new child. |
She is the custodial parent as she has more time and gets child support. The best way to figure it out is to change schools. |
What does she do for her two days. |