I have a rather large dilemma...
Firstly some background.
My son is 4 1/2 and I fought his mother in court shortly after he was born... 3 weeks after to be exact. I took her to court and shortly after he turned 1, we had an agreement put into place where we would have shared custody which increased over time until it reached 50-50.
Main Issue.
The pinnacle of 50-50 was reached at the very beginning of this year (2011). I was overjoyed when this happened. However... the last week of March she notified me she was going off Ontario works (wellfare) because her and her live in BF are getting married and she is no longer able to stay on the system because of their incomes merging. A day or 2 later she called me up and told me that she would be picking up our son after he was off school at 12pm on my week. (he does half days) She claimed that she was entitled to this because I work a job that is 11-6/8pm (she does not work at all) and while I am at work he is in the care of his grandmother (my mother). She claims that if he is not with me 100% of the time then she should be with her indefinetly and not my mother... That I should come and pick him up and drop him off every day. (I have done all the driving for the last 3 years...). I feel trapped in a hole. I try to make a living and provide for my son the best I can and I am penalized for it. I feel like I can't progress in my life and would have to work a part time job all my life... (I work full-time right now).
Feeling extremely threatened by this I altered my work schedule and reduced my financial income in the process but allowing me to drop him off and pick him up from school thus thwarting her plans.
She has been calling me every day while I am at work to discuss important issues... I am not really allowed to talk on my phone at work so I don't answer and call her after I am off shift. Our conversations have been degrading over the past week and I am afraid she is going to do something drastic and try to cut me out of our son's life again.
I am at a point where I am considering mediation, she is very very very demanding and I am not a very aggressive person so I have a hard time getting my points across. Do you think this would be a smart course of action? Also I was wondering what sort of costs are associated with mediation.
Thanks for the responses.
Firstly some background.
My son is 4 1/2 and I fought his mother in court shortly after he was born... 3 weeks after to be exact. I took her to court and shortly after he turned 1, we had an agreement put into place where we would have shared custody which increased over time until it reached 50-50.
Main Issue.
The pinnacle of 50-50 was reached at the very beginning of this year (2011). I was overjoyed when this happened. However... the last week of March she notified me she was going off Ontario works (wellfare) because her and her live in BF are getting married and she is no longer able to stay on the system because of their incomes merging. A day or 2 later she called me up and told me that she would be picking up our son after he was off school at 12pm on my week. (he does half days) She claimed that she was entitled to this because I work a job that is 11-6/8pm (she does not work at all) and while I am at work he is in the care of his grandmother (my mother). She claims that if he is not with me 100% of the time then she should be with her indefinetly and not my mother... That I should come and pick him up and drop him off every day. (I have done all the driving for the last 3 years...). I feel trapped in a hole. I try to make a living and provide for my son the best I can and I am penalized for it. I feel like I can't progress in my life and would have to work a part time job all my life... (I work full-time right now).
Feeling extremely threatened by this I altered my work schedule and reduced my financial income in the process but allowing me to drop him off and pick him up from school thus thwarting her plans.
She has been calling me every day while I am at work to discuss important issues... I am not really allowed to talk on my phone at work so I don't answer and call her after I am off shift. Our conversations have been degrading over the past week and I am afraid she is going to do something drastic and try to cut me out of our son's life again.
I am at a point where I am considering mediation, she is very very very demanding and I am not a very aggressive person so I have a hard time getting my points across. Do you think this would be a smart course of action? Also I was wondering what sort of costs are associated with mediation.
Thanks for the responses.
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