As a dad, your preference is to always put your children first. You know that they need you and their mother to grow up healthy and happy. In fact, you’ve made it a priority to treat their mother respectfully despite your differences.
The unfortunate thing in your situation is that she doesn’t treat you the same way. She is angry about the divorce and doesn’t love sharing custody with you. It’s a frustrating situation for both of you in different ways, but you’re doing the best you can to put on a smile and be there for your kids. All you want to do is to keep the peace.
One thing you’ve been worrying about more lately, though, is how she’s interacting with your children. She has said some negative things about you to them, even though you’ve made it clear that you think both of you should keep negativity to yourselves. After all, your children share your biology, and anything that you say negatively about the other parent could make your children think badly about themselves, too.
You were trying to ignore the conflict caused by your ex-wife until your child came back to your home crying about the things that she had heard about you. She doesn’t know why her mom hates her dad so much, and it breaks your heart. It’s impacting her and her brother, and you need it to stop.
So, what can you do? Do you have to put up with continued conflict?
No, you don’t have to continue to allow this negative behavior. You can resolve issues like this with your attorney’s help and support. In some cases, you may need to go back to court to show how the other parent is treating you and show that their words or actions are negatively affecting your children. You may want to seek a modification of custody or seek to stop this harmful behavior in the future through legal means.
Any judge who sees a parent talking badly about another parent to their children is going to have something to say. It’s not appropriate, and it’s not looked upon kindly. Fortunately, many times, these situations don’t have to reach the court. Your attorney can help you look into alternatives to help, like trying mediation or adjusting parts of your parenting plan, so that you can get back to a situation that is free of conflict and strain.