Hello All!
Thanks in advance for any tips/advice you may give and for your time! I am having a huge struggle with the mother of my son and her allowing me and him to spend the time that I feel we should be entitled too. To give a brief background, son was born in Chicago and mother up and left 2 weeks after the birth back to her home state of FL. In an effort to try and mend things and be the good guy, I followed her to FL where I was seeing my son regularly every other weekend. We reconciled and for a moment we lived together as a family until she decided that sex with one man wasnt good enough for her, and she up and left to live with her new BF 120 miles away. So I went back to seeing my son every other weekend (almost consistently) and have since moved back to my home state of IL. Since I have been here I have gone down to see my son and he has traveled up here to spend time with me here. I am now in a new relationship and my fiancee is expecting and I was attempting to arrange the next couple of visits that me and my son would spend in the coming months. In my attempt to do so, the mother of my son has decided that I am to be limited to seeing my son 1 week every 4 months because she feels that I (despite me paying more supprt that I am ordered to pay) that I do not give her enough money and therefore am unfit and that it is unhealthy for him to be away from her and her BFs for anything more than that. So I offered up mediation which she has shot down before and she continuously expresses to me that IF she were to go to mediation with me, that she would at the most stretch the amount of time that me and my son would spend together to perhaps be 1 week every 3 months. I know this is more a of rant at this point in my post, but I need help. I contacted some attorneys in FL and am about to pay a $3500 retainer fee which I can barely afford as is. I would like to try mediation, but if I could get her to go, she will not be cooperative or flexible enough to find a middle ground. So i feel like that would be a waste of my time and money. If I go through the legal battle of court or mediation, what amount of time could I realistically expect to spend with my son? I know every case is different and that no one here can tell me for certain the amount of days or anything like that. But what could i expect to have the courts/mediator order? I am employed, drug free, crime free loving father who cherishes every second I spend with my little boy and I can't go on living life letting this evil woman dictate how and when I get to spend the time that me and my son deserve. Again, thanx for reading/helping. If more details are needed just ask!Chi Dad

