How are you feeling in your new house now @shitwithsugaron?
I’ve had a day of ex being annoying. Our buyer care round at 10 to show his kids the house. So we needed to clean and tidy to viewing standard. Except I ended up doing most of it.
Ex decided to cut the grass at 8am (he wanted to do it at 7! 
). Then he decided that the hedge needed cut, but he’d broken the hedge trimmer by being a careless idiot and cutting through the wire. So he went to Homebase to buy another one. He kept asking me about it first (as I was trying to clean the actual house). I now realise this was because he wanted me to pay half. I’m not paying half for a hedge trimmer - if he wants one, he can buy it himself.
Anyway, he bought one and started cutting the hedge. Within a minute he had (you guessed it) cut through the wire and totally broken it. 
So I certainly will not be paying half for something he was careless with (even if I had been willing to pay half in principle).
Then he started complaining that I was mopping the kitchen floor. Apparently, that might make the buyer think it’s hard to keep clean. No. The buyer will just gave thought, ‘oh. They mopped the floor.’ Ex went on and on about how it was wet. He was honestly repeating this like someone in a movie acting out a serious MH crisis.
He also wanted me to walk somewhere with DS2 rather than taking my car. He’s paranoid about the drains (for no reason) so when he’s returned from Homebase (in my car, using my petrol) he’d parked on top of the drain cover. And he didn’t want me to move it.
I took the car and took both boys to carluccio’s for breakfast (because they have a GF menu). It was lovely.
Ex seemed to think I should just come back when the viewing was over. But obviously I didn’t. We had a leisurely breakfast then went to Waterstones.
When we returned ex started going on about lunch. We’d recently had a big breakfast, so no one wanted any. I said I was going to give DS2 a snack before his cubs activity in the afternoon. So ex looked huffy and started acting like he was incapable of sorting himself out a sandwich.
He took my car and went to McDonald’s to buy himself lunch. Apparently he had to do this because clearly buying a sandwich or just the ingredients to make one yourself is not possible.
DS2 had a boating activity with cubs between 1 and 2. Ex (as always) was trying to muscle in on it. First he seemed to think that I should drive DS2 there, come back and then he’d pick him up (‘to be fair’). I pointed out that was a stupid idea as I was just planning on staying while he paddled about and then bringing him back afterwards. So then he seemed to think he could just come with me. That would be a NO.
It’s just exhausting dealing with this crap.
DS2 had a great time at cubs. At the end they all just got in the river, fully clothed. DS2 loved that. So he was absolutely soaked. I’d taken a change of clothes and shoes and a towel anyway, but he decided that he’d wear just a tshirt and the towel in the car on the way home (and have a bath when we got in). Ex was not impressed with this.
I ran DS2 a bath and then asked him to check the temperature with his elbow. It was slightly warmer than he’d like it to be. So he decided to pretend like he was in agony.
Ex came running along and acted like I was abusing DS2. No. DS2 was exaggerating, partly because he knows that ex will act like this. So I put a tiny bit more cold in and DS2 decided it was exactly the right temperature.
I was sitting in the bathroom chatting to DS2 while me messed around in the bath but ex would not just go away. He even stole my seat on the loo when I went to get DS2 some shampoo! Ex just will not allow me to spend time with DS2 (unless I’m doing taxi duty). But I never want to make a scene in front of DS2. I did tell him to go away but he wouldn’t (and was clearly manipulating the situation so I’d have to be the ‘bad guy’).
Then ex started being an arsehole about DS washing his hair with actual shampoo (after submerging himself in the tyne). He then started saying ‘mummy wants you to do it’ and other manipulative bullshit. Arsehole.
Regardless, DS2 ended up clean and got dressed. He then ‘needed’ his hair dried (because ex thinks he’ll die if his hair dries naturally). I had to point out to ex that I will be drying his hair then because ex does not own a hairdryer (or a hair brush/comb - except he appears to have stolen my brush in the last week). I own one and DS1 owns one. And ex has no right to use either.
This is just a snap shot of the utterly petty but absolutely soul destroying nature of putting up with ex. It’s absolutely exhausting and relentless. (And the rest of the day’s interactions with him have continued in a similar vein).
Hopefully the house sale will be done soon. The buyer is really keen to get moving. I really cannot wait to move.