My dc is 8 yrs old. Hates phone conversations in general, but we have a weekly call set with father.
He doesn't call at the agreed time though.
Mostly an hour or so later, or not at all.
Last time he didn't call, sent a text to dc phone a lot later, saying he just got home and he will call the next day.
We didn't see this message though. We switched the phone off after dc decided not to want to wait for his call anymore.
He texted my phone the next day asking to call dc, but we were out, I told him we will call that evening, but we forgot. Dc didn't want to either, so it took a lot of persuading that afternoon, but then we forgot...
He did phone though, we got the messages in when we turned her phone back on today.
Called him back today, no answer.
So no speaking to dad this weekend, again.
Back story is he cannot be with dc unsupervised, so for now, until he agrees with plans set for supervised visits, the phone is all they have. But then his phone broke a few weeks ago, after that he said WhatsApp didn't work anymore.
This is weeks ago, still no WhatsApp, so no free video calls or messages at this point.
He doesn't provide dc with phone credit. She has a prepaid sim, which I bought her to have easier contact with dad.
So now it is also up to me to pay for sending him sms, which I stopped doing, as why should I. He didn't disagree on this. He just doesn't do anything to fix the situation.
What would you do to change this to dc's best interest?
What can I suggest to ex to improve their contact?
I don't fancy leaving dc's phone on all day every day for him to maybe call.
He is an intrusive and abusive person, with serious mental health problems.
The whole house shivers (me and dc fled the marital house and live with family atm) when he phones.
I would prefer to know when to expect his call.
I asked my dc, and dc prefers to decide on when to be on the phone, but then no calls will be made at all.
Not sure which way to go with this really.
Ultimatum him to fix WhatsApp, or give a different call time, or let dc call. No court orders or so for this, I supply him with these options, as he shows no initiative, only spreads hate (about me, to me) and then sits back.
But for dc I think I should motivate contact.
Or not maybe.
Thanks in advance for any experience/advice.