It plain old sucks and is unfair. I really hate that he disrespects your church's traditions and so forth. That sounds like something my ex would do. The only comfort that I can give is that I really do not think your ex's words or attitude will truly taint your children's view of their church. It sounds as though they really like being involved in it, and I'm sure that long into adulthood, they will appreciate having such a devout mother. That devoutness and goodness will far outweigh your ex's sniveling and rudeness.
I do think your schedule should be modified to be specific about Christmas so that your are at least guaranteed every other year. You perhaps could point out to your ex that such an arrangement would also guarantee HIM that. Maybe your lawyer could draft something about that - an addendum to your agreement - to ensure that "both parties" get equal time (just to make it look "reasonable" to a court if it came to that) and because doing so is important to the continuance of your children's religious training. Also, is there any way he'd trade any of this time... like if you got the kids for Christmas Eve, he could have them for an extra weekend day next month, or something?
Also, if one of your kids is 14, I do think it's possible for her to petition the court to do visitation as SHE wants to - I think she's old enough so they may take her seriously if she said she wanted the right to celebrate her religious traditions with you.
I do think that even if your kids are old enough to get what is going on, it's still really important to be positive for them. They might know you'll be alone but don't let on if you'll be lonely. Being positive, even when you don't feel like it, is a wonderful gift to them - as hard as it can be (don't I know it).
I do think your schedule should be modified to be specific about Christmas so that your are at least guaranteed every other year. You perhaps could point out to your ex that such an arrangement would also guarantee HIM that. Maybe your lawyer could draft something about that - an addendum to your agreement - to ensure that "both parties" get equal time (just to make it look "reasonable" to a court if it came to that) and because doing so is important to the continuance of your children's religious training. Also, is there any way he'd trade any of this time... like if you got the kids for Christmas Eve, he could have them for an extra weekend day next month, or something?
Also, if one of your kids is 14, I do think it's possible for her to petition the court to do visitation as SHE wants to - I think she's old enough so they may take her seriously if she said she wanted the right to celebrate her religious traditions with you.
I do think that even if your kids are old enough to get what is going on, it's still really important to be positive for them. They might know you'll be alone but don't let on if you'll be lonely. Being positive, even when you don't feel like it, is a wonderful gift to them - as hard as it can be (don't I know it).
