Magnific

Co-parenting after a divorce can be difficult, particularly when one parent has significantly less time with the children than the other.

In this case, a divorced father is working toward a more balanced custody arrangement while making the most of his limited weekends with his two kids.

During a recent visit to their grandparents’ lake house, however, his ex-wife called with an unexpected request: she wanted him to bring the children back early because she was feeling lonely after a date fell through.

He refused, arguing that his scheduled parenting time shouldn’t be interrupted for that reason.

What would you do?

Check out the full story below.

AITA For not bringing my kids to see my ex-wife during my time with them

My ex-wife, Lisa (41F), and I (43M) divorced last summer. We share 2 kids (10 & 7).

My wife currently has primary custody of them and I get them 2 weekends a month with extra time during summer and holidays.

I have been working very hard to change our custody agreement in order to get more time with the kids.

But the main hurdle is that I live too far away from their school so I am looking to move closer but that takes time.

This past weekend I had the kids and took them to visit my parents since they live on a lake. We spent Saturday morning on the boat fishing and tubing and having a blast.

Then something he wasn’t expecting happened.

When we were back at the house getting ready for dinner, Lisa sent me a text asking if we could talk so I gave her a call.

She said that she was having a rough day and was feeling very emotional and alone.

She asked if she could talk to the kids for a bit and I agreed. After a few minutes the kids gave me my phone back because Lisa wanted to talk more.

She asked if I would be willing to bring the kids back to her for the rest of the weekend because she missed them and just wanted to be around them.

But he didn’t want to.

I told her no because this is my time with them.

I asked her what was going on because she usually doesn’t contact me when I have the kids except to arrange drop-offs.

She kind of tiptoed around it a bit but eventually said that she had a date that evening but he ghosted her and she’s feeling really emotional about it.

It took every ounce of self-control I have not to start laughing.

She said that she already asked the kids about it and they said they were fine with it.

He wasn’t happy about it.

I told her that is some manipulative ******* and that I am not going to sacrifice my limited time with the kids just because she got stood up.

I reminded her that she has the kids much more often than I do and I am going to keep them every single second that our custody agreement allows.

She told me that I was being a jerk and that if the kids want to go back to her then I should let them.

I told her that the kids don’t get to make that decision and I will be keeping them until our agreed upon drop-off on Monday and ended the call.

Now he’s wondering if he did something wrong.

She sent a few texts later that night and during Sunday basically calling me an ******* but I never responded.

I figured the texts might come in handy when I try to change the custody agreement.

The kids and I spent a lot more time on the lake Sunday and then I brought them back to Lisa on Monday.

She made a comment about how much she missed them and how she wished she could have seen them sooner while giving me a weird look. I didn’t respond because it’s not worth the fight.

I understand feeling emotional about being stood up but none of that is my fault and the way she went about it felt very underhanded and manipulative.

AITA?

Never Miss a Story

Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.

I don’t like how he handled that, but her using the kids as an emotional crutch is not good either. He also doesn’t get to see them that often. So his decision was a good one. So I think they both suck, in different ways.

What did Reddit think?

A reader shares their thoughts.

Yup.

I agree.

Another reader chimes in.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who has been saving for her child’s private education, but now her stepson’s mother expects her to do the same for her stepkid.

More food for thought.

Considering all the facts stated above, he seems quite justified to follow the schedule set by the couple for custody.

Having said that, he was very rude to her. Was that really necessary?

And of course, his wife had a difficult day, but missing the kids does not give her the right to decide whether the schedule should be changed.

I think they both can do better since they have to coparent.

Add TwistedSifter to your Google News Add us as a preferred source on Google

Author

Mila Cardozo

Indie thinker.

Mila's LinkedIn