The Ex-Wife-in-Law

You know, when I started this blog it was due to crappy customer service that I found humor in. Once I got to blogging, I thought "The most consistent gripe in my life would be my ex-wife-in-law. I should put some of her psycho moments out here." But then I thought about the additional energy I would be spending on her and I decided long ago that the woman was not going to get a single extra moment of my time or energy than was required by the court. (She and my husband have a 17 year old daughter together.) We pay the child support (only 14 more months left, Thank You Jesus!!), which by the way we have voluntarily increased ourselves each year when Hubby gets his puny little government raise; we pay our 50% of all out of pocket medical costs; and, we stay out of her life completely (except for the checks she gets from us in the mail.) She has successfully terminated any relationship Hubby might have had with his daughter - family courts don't want to deal with psychotic custodial parents and the bartering they do with their own children. The courts only want to deal with the money involved because cash is tangible. Apparently the emotional health of the children is secondary, if considered at all. I really think the courts need to put a little more effort into protecting children from their own bi-polar parents.

My apologies for the extraneous introduction to this subject but I didn't think I could really get started on it without first giving some background. Now, which Ex-Wife-in-Law Psycho Episode to kick it off:

1. How about the time we were supposed to have Daughter for a 7 week summer visit but Ex-Wife-in-Law called EVERY DAY to talk to Daughter after which every call Daughter was sullen and/or crying but would not tell us what was wrong? (By the by, Daughter returned home to Psycho Momma after only 2 weeks.)

2. How about the time we picked up Daughter for dinner (our Wednesday night rights) and we had no sooner sat down at Appleby's than Hubby's cell phone was ringing - Ex-Wife-in-Law was SCREAMING into the phone, "WHAT TIME ARE YOU BRINGING HER BACK?! IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT!!!" ? (It was literally 5:45 p.m. when this call happened.)

3. Or how about the time Daughter was asking about Hubby's new co-worker (a very sweet but plain-looking young lady that Daughter had not met) and wanted to know if she was pretty because, "You know, my Dad likes pretty girls." As if? Totally her mother coming out of her.

4. No, wait, what about the time Daughter was at the lake with her cousins (Hubby's nieces and nephew) and Ex-Wife-in-Law called her and said who-knows-what so that Daughter, who was having a perfectly fun summer time at the lake, told Hubby that she wanted to go home to "her family"? Apparently Ex-Wife-in-Law has informed Daughter that we are "not her family."

I know I said I had made the decision to not spend additional time/energy on the Ex-Wife-in-Law but believe me, the whole situation has become a source of amusement for me. I am continually amazed at the depth of the woman's misery - she just exudes it. Despite tragedy and set backs in my life, I am still a relatively happy person. I definitely don't give any thought whatsoever to my ex-husband. Ancient history, I say.

The one question I would really like to ask would be of Ex-Wife-in-Law's current husband: "Is your self-esteem completely non-existent or are you totally without intelligence? If I were you I would be pretty hacked off that my wife puts so much energy into someone else's husband."

But that's just me.