Wait a minute. I see custodial parents get ripped on here all the time because they don't "make" their kids talk to their other parent when they call or want to talk to them and now this guy is getting questioned because he wants to talk to his kids?
He asks her if they can call him back. My ex used to do that. He would ask if he could talk to the kids and usually they would either call from their mom's phone or they used his daughter's phone once she got one.
I'm just confused as to when custodial parents say they don't make their kids talk to the other parent they get ripped a new one for interfering or being a bad parent. This guy is trying to talk to his kids and the custodial parent is ignoring him suddenly and it's somehow his fault or "maybe the kids don't want to talk to you." Just weird.
He says that he texts her asking her to have the kids call him. I am sorry, but that is weird. If he wants to talk to the kids he should CALL and ask to speak to them.
Yes, when we hear the story from the custodial parent's point of view they do often get ripped for not making the children speak to the other parent. However, sometimes they do not...because sometimes they have valid reasons (the other parent is calling after bedtime, for example, the other parent is obviously drunk or any number of things that make phone calls inappropriate at that given time).
I do really have a problem however, with this parent complaining that mom is making no effort to have the kid call HIM. Sorry, but as I said earlier, if he wants to talk to his children he should pick up the phone and call them...not send mom a text asking her to have the children call HIM.
The kids are getting older and I understand they don't want to talk to me all the time, but I think a 10 minute call once or twice a week is reasonable.
They are usually pretty busy, that's why I text mom. I don't want to call when they are having dinner, working on homework, taking a shower, etc... Maybe we just see things differently. I think the idea of calling someone cold is more intrusive than a message asking the kids to call when they are free.
There's a lot of backstory behind my comment about mom not making any effort. It's more like she is deliberately driving a wedge between me and the kids. That's all I'll say about that.
My daughter has a court order stating that she has to have her 5-year-old son call his dad every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights at 7:00. His dad used to call at inappropriate times -- mom was at work and couldn't answer her phone, or he would call after my grandson's bedtime or while they were eating dinner -- and he would get mad and verbally abusive with her. So he requested that the judge make her set a schedule. So three times a week, she (or me if she's working and I have the kids) has to call him for her son to talk to him. So yes, you can get a court order requiring the child(ren) to call dad. However, I take issue with the phrase "make them talk." How can you physically force a child to actually talk? That's the problem my daughter has. Nine times out of ten, my grandson flat refuses to talk.
Your daughter however has that order due to unusual circumstances. Its certainly not the norm. What I think is weird is dad's (in this thread) passive/aggressive way of handling it. Instead of simply calling his children, he texts mom and asks her to have the children call him, and then says it's mom's fault if that doesn't happen.