I would like some advice please.
My ex husband (children’s father) chooses to have very limited contact with our children. He used to see them every weekend, but now only chooses to see them for 24hrs every fortnight. He also cancels quite a lot, or chooses to cancel overnight stays and have the children just through the day on Sunday.
He rarely sees our children during the school holidays, even though he is a Headteacher and he knows I have to work. His reasons for reduced contact are in his words: “his entitlement to quality time with his wife”, the fact that his wife doesn’t have children and he is very busy with his job as a Headteacher.
My ex and his wife have recently had a baby and now contact has reduced again, as she is unwell (has been for almost a year). He now wishes to see our children from 10am until 3pm on alternate Sundays. I have asked that this Sunday he has them until 4pm, as I had made plans (he hasn’t seen them since 5th August so thought he would wish to see the children from 9am until 5pm as a minimum) and it will be the first time the children meet their baby brother or sister. He says no, he can only have them until 3pm.
I asked my to have the children a little more when I left my ex bf who was emotionally abusive towards me and the children (my ex husband’s children) and I ended up moving in with my parents when we ran away. I told my ex husband what had happened, how it was cramped for me and the children at my parents and I wasn’t dealing well with the aftermath of everything. My ex has a big house for him and his wife and knew the situation, yet he refused, explaining that he would only stick to his alternate weekends for 24hrs as he wanted quality time with his wife.
Am I being unreasonable? Any suggestions as to what to do? I know I can’t force him to see his children, but wondered what the next steps could be.