Quick poll please, WIBU here?

[DianaOfThemyscira]

Ex is due to have DS today, it is the last weekend of the month, and he has him Sat and Sun.
Today is DNephew's 4th birthday, and he is having a party that DS has been looking forward to for two weeks. Ex is well aware that the party is happening, DS had been refusing to go to EX's house in case he missed the party, so we (me, ex and ds) have had lots of conversations about when the party is to persuade him it's OK to go to his dad's, he won't miss the party.

Today ex text me "Where and when am I getting him?" I say "Dsis address, party ends 6pm"
He's gone off on one saying he knew nothing of the party (so why ask where and when he's picking ds up?) and has said "I will be at your door at 6pm. Have him ready"

I say it it his responsibility to collect ds from the party, he says I have to trek all 3 of my kids 2 miles in the snow, leaving the party early in order to be at home for him coming.
Our written agreement states "UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES Ex will collect DS from home address"
This is not a normal weekend, as ds has a one-off birthday party to attend. Who IBU, YOU DECIDE (in a Geordie Big Brother accent)

[helenthemadex]

its hard to give a quick response to something when a lot of the back story comes out after

his behaviour when you took your ds was totally out of order and inexcuseable and should be logged somewhere for future reference, not sure where maybe speak to the community police and ask for advice. I do agree with Zillion, when you knew the situation was already tense and he was annoyed you should have ensured that ds was ready for his visit with his father, I know you said he didnt want to leave the party, I have had this situation as well and have just said I know you dont want to leave but your dad is waiting to see you or something similar

Maybe seeing a solicitor or mediation to formalise contact, it does make things easier, it is great to be flexible but I think that only works well when there is a reasonable relationship between the parents and they can talk rationally about stuff which it sounds to me like you and your ex can't

[WhereYouLeftIt]

" things do seem to be escalating."
Please log this latest incident with the police, and if you haven't already, start keeping a journal of every incident. He sounds horrendous to deal with .

[waltermittymissus]

Ah apologies. I assumed the weekend contact was for two full days.

Tbh, in that case you did nothing unreasonable.

However, what you've described re: his comments and care of your DS, I would be inclined to think that it doesn't matter how fun he is. What matters is his care of your DS. Is he doing a good job of that?

I have a SD so I would never suggest cutting contact with the father for no good reason but I think you do have good reason especially with the recent violence!

I would reiterate my advice to have it logged and keep a diary and maybe think about withholding contact until he sorts out his temper?

[DianaOfThemyscira]

walter He hasn't missed much time, really, he hasn't. We made this contact agreement with ds in mind.
I take my kids out to do something every Saturday, as ex has ds from 11am Sunday every week.
When we came to add a Saturday night in to his contact, Ex agreed that DS should not (and would not want to) miss out on a day out with his siblings to go to his Dad's, who does not take him anywhere as he doesn't drive.
Ex agreed to his weekend contact starting from teatime Saturday. This has always been flexible, if ex has something planned we change it, no problem, or (this will out me if nothing else has!) if I haven't planned to take the kids out on the Saturday (which during Sept/Oct/Nov I didn't as much as older ds ended up in a wheelchair so lots of activities we would normally do became impossible), ex took ds earlier on Saturday or on the Friday night whenever he wished to. All very amicable, flexible and friendly.

For those asking how ex behaves with the kids, he's actually a lot of fun and they loved going to his house.

However, recently I have discovered that he has been saying things to DS. Eg: "Your eczema is bad because of all the dust at mummy's house" (this despite previously taking the piss that I'm obsessed with cleaning and my Dyson is glued to my hand and is never put away. My house is CLEAN AND DUST FREE!)
He has also told ds that DC 1 and 2's dad (who doesn't really bother with them but is a hero when he does show up) is "a bad man"
He told my older DS that I am "stupid and stubborn"
He has put it in DS's head that the clothes I provide for him are no good, as they are age 3-4 (DS has just turned 5 and is small) so DS has been refusing to get dressed for me.
And ex text me one time he had taken ds away for 4 days to see his family, saying DS's eczema was "really bad". He refused to buy any eczema cream for ds when I suggested he took him to a pharmacy (why should he PAY FOR IT when I get it for FREE?!) or take him to urgent care centre ("and how am I supposed to get there, I don't even know where one is"). I told him to return DS ASAP if he refused to buy the stuff he needed. He then accused me of being "a drama queen, his skin wasn't even that bad"
On a previous occasion he'd brought DS home with horribly blistered skin. I asked what he'd been putting on it, he pulled a Lypsyl out of his pocket. FFS.

I'm sure I'll think of more.

[waltermittymissus]

If he is violent towards children/teenagers and you are concerned about your son's safety then you're entitled to stop contact until he sees someone about his issues.

Let him take you back to court if he wishes. But you need to log these episodes with the police and keep a diary. He sounds like your classic bully.

However, allowing your son (how old?) to stay longer when you knew the situation was already tense and that it was already cutting into contact time was below the belt. He's lost an entire day of his weekend contact.

As I said, if you're worried for your child's safety that's one thing but it's difficult to hang on to the moral high ground if you start playing spiteful games. I'm not saying that is what you've done but IMO the 'once off cousin's party' thing is a bit of a lame reason to antagonise him. Sorry!

[Lovelygoldboots]

Hope you are ok. The advice about writing a journal is excellent. It will help you make sense of what has happened and you can show it to the police or anyone else you need support from. Hope you can manage to cut him out of your sons life. Because he does not sound like a good father and is using your son to control you. You can't live like that. Wish I could help more.

[GettingObsessive]

Also, if you wanted to go out "shagging" on the weekend when your DS was at his Dad's why shouldn't you. It's not like you're still together, is it?

[QuietNinjaTardis]

I'm not surprised he doesn't want to go to his dads if his dad is a violent, verbally abusive arse. How does he treat the kids when you're not around? I'd call the police to get this logged. Punching the car window when they were (and you) in it is disgraceful.

[diddl]

Oh that´s awful.

I wouldn´t want my child anywhere near him.

[frustratedashell]

I dont think you should be sending your son to his dads at all after what you have said, esp about the 15 year old nephew incident. He is clearly manipulative and violent.

[NynaevesSister]

If he is like that with his nephew and with you how is he with son?

First you need to take notes all the time. Write everything down as it happens and leave out any emotional language. Anything that was clearly written at the time will be accepted by judge in court. They will not put as much weight on anything that is written retrospectively if accepted at all.

You do not need texts or emails as long as it shows just the facts. Write this journal in your own hand rather than type to show it has been written over time.

You will be shocked when you go back over it after just a couple of months. It is surprising how much we put out of our minds.

Then what everyone else has said about getting advice. Your ex clearly has a personality disorder and you need more help on dealing with him.

[DianaOfThemyscira]

He could have had a different weekend, but didn't suggest it when I told him about the party. Probably so he could kick off about it.
If were to have suggested an alternate weekend, I'd be accused of changing contact to suit my social life, he'd infer that I must want to go out 'shagging' on x date if I suggested swapping contact to then.
And yes, he absolutely IS always this way when he doesn't get exactly what he wants. He's been like this with his own family, they have many periods of not speaking to him, they used to dread us splitting up at Christmas (as we often did) as it meant he would be with them and ruin their holiday (once pinning 15yo nephew against the wall by the throat in his own home on xmas day)
He's never been this out of control of his own behaviour before though, and things do seem to be escalating. Esp as it's in front of the kids. I can only assume that this is due to my complete emotional detachment (thanks to mn support and advice) from him, he can probably feel his power to affect me is diminished, and this is why he's losing his rag so much?

[diddl]

He sounds absolutely awful-is he always like this when things aren´t exactly as he wants?

Does seem odd that he wasn´t given a different weekent this month though & that son was allowed to stay longer than 6.

[Icelollycraving]

Sorry. Get this recorded with police ASAP. Get some proper legal advice,

[Icelollycraving]

Get this recorded with p

[Lovelygoldboots]

I am so sorry. He sounds violent and abusive. I hope you can get some support. And yes ring police, you and your children should not have to put up with this.

[montage]

I don't think your son, or your other children, should have to be exposed to that (obviously).

If your son has to go to his father's (he does not sound like he wants to and your ex is aggressive), is there some other person or way to do the handover?

I would certainly speak to WA.

[DianaOfThemyscira]

I let him stay longer as he said he didn't want to go to his dad's. I'm not going to force him to get in the car when he doesn't want to go. I thought that if I allowed him to party himself out, he would go willingly.
I know he'd have resisted and resented if I'd said he had to leave enjoying himself to go to his dad's.

This was a one off, for his cousin's bday, it's not a regular occurrence.

I don't ever tell him he HAS to go to his dad's, I try my best to persuade him. He has a great time when he is at his dad's, but is sometimes reluctant to go at first.
He wasn't dictating what time we left, we left when the party came to it's natural end and the rest of the family's kids had got their coats.

[ZillionChocolate]

I think you ought to call the police about what happened today. It ought to be recorded, even if it's not investigated. It sounds like it would be worth you seeing a solicitor.

Your ex was wholly unreasonable and his behaviour was inexcusable. I do feel that you didn't help matters by leaving the party late. I'm not sure how old your son is, but I don't understand why he was in a position to dictate when you left the party. You should have been prioritising his contact with his father.

[Convert]

Yes, ring the police if he behaves like this again. He sounds like a wanker. Poor you.

[DianaOfThemyscira]

Thanks, I didn't think of WA. I have thought about a solicitor.

[Emilythornesbff]

Also, call police in event of future outbursts.

[Emilythornesbff]

Poor thing.
I would speak to someone about managing contact with abusive ex p.
Your own solicitor if you have one, or somewhere like women's aid of you don't.

[DianaOfThemyscira]

Hello again, I text ex and told him I would drop ds off after the party, as I had managed to dig my car out and get it onto a main road (despite two cars being abandoned on my street!)

However, DS refused to leave at 6pm, so I left it for an hour (I let ex know) then left the party. I took ds to his dad's. When he answered the door he called me an "ignorant cunt" and started shouting about all the step dads I've paraded around DS. This is all in his head. There has been no-one else.

DS refused to get out of the car, ex was shouting and swearing at me, and inventing all these men IN FRONT OF MY 3 DCs, so I really can't blame him. He pulled the driver's door open and shouted more abuse at me. Eventually he stepped back and allowed me to close the door, but punched the window with full force. I'm gobsmacked it didn't smash, esp as the window was only halfway up. Kids are very shaken.

I've text him to say I won't be doing hand overs at his door again, and I don't ever want him at my door (he came on Thursday, as I was getting something out of the car for DS, ex blocked my path back into my house, was in my face and wouldn't let me past. On Tuesday and Sunday he came up and kept kicking the door and shouting abuse through the letterbox) so he'd better arrange for a third party to sort out hand over for contact.

[lovelyladuree]

All that notice and no-one thought of just changing the weekend DS goes to his Dad's this month