She Chose Him?

As noted before, I'm divorced with one daughter from that marriage. In fact, my ex-wife married the man with whom she'd been cheating on me. Let's call him Chase. They're still together (for now) and have a son together.

I do my best to cooperate and co-parent with them. I feel it's important for all of us to get along as much as possible for my daughter Willow's sake.

That isn't always easy though...

Due to their own financial mismanagement (good to see my ex never changes with how she handles money), they had to move out of a house that was next to Chase's parents in a gated community (which I'm sure the parents helped them pay for it) to a duplex rental on the main street of a very small town.

Since they moved, Chase wanted to ask the school if Willow could have an additional bus stop. It would be closer to their new home and only be for days in which they were responsible for Willow anyway.

Chase told me his plan and I was apprehensive about it. Adding an extra stop can lead to lots of confusion for the driver and the school itself. Plus, what happens if they're late or forget to pick her up that day? Would the bus driver still drop her off at the location? I was worried about her having to walk home as that town is Megan's Law Central (I know there's lots of ways to get on that list but these ones are the expected suspects: white males with a habit of touching kids. You know, people who deserve to be called pedophiles by the world at large instead of the trans or genderfluid community because the far right has an issue with a man in a dress. But I digress).

Chase assured me that they would be there on time everyday and that they'd meet up with the school superintendent during Meet the Teacher Day the week before school started.

"I have it all planned out and you have nothing to worry about."

Famous last words from Chase.

Not only does he not make it to Meet the Teacher Day because he had to sleep before work that night (he works third shift at his job) but my ex decided she was too tired from her job and refused to go and talk with the superintendent either.

Chase wound up calling the superintendent to explain the situation, wrote up a note and handed it (plus several copies) to the bus driver himself.

I know he did that much because I saw him hand it to the bus driver. I went to make sure Willow's first time getting on at this different stop went off without a hitch.

Fast forward to this past Thursday (yes, the same day I had that really bad case of gender dysphoria). Chase asks me to call him when I get a moment.

So I immediately step out of my office to do so. I hear a lot of rustling in the receiver before he says, "sorry, I was having issues there for a second. So what's up?"

😒

What's up?!?! Bitch, you messaged me!!!

I didn't say that but I wanted to so badly.

Chase got to the point and asked if I could contact the superintendent for Willow's school. He says that the superintendent's made at him and "hopefully you can smooth things over with him."

Now, I did grow up with the superintendent as he was a grade behind me. But that's beside the point. "Why is he mad at you, Chase?"

Chase proceeds to tell me how he was late one day in picking up Willow the previous week and the superintendent threatened to end the second bus stop if he was late again.

Since I was never told they were late, I'm absolutely furious. I withhold the thoughts of conjuring any black magic to reach through the phone and strangle Chase for the moment. Mostly to get more information.

Chase then also tells me how he slept in, mixed up on what time it was and called the school to apologize for being late at the bus stop again and he was on his way. He was then informed that it was an hour earlier than he thought and how Willow was still in school.

So, now the school not only thinks that he's lazy and unreliable but also probably on drugs.

There's also an issue with what days Willow is supposed to use which bus stop because the days Chase told the superintendent don't match up with what Chase was claiming in this latest phone call. In fact, the superintendent states that he never received a note about the dates.

I have no choice at this point: I call the school. I let the superintendent know that I'm not angry with them, I don't blame them at all, and that my anger is directed at Chase for this whole mess. This is something up on which we can agree.

The superintendent then actually calls the driver to ask about the note. Turns out, it was in his binder there and it hadn't made it to the school office or the superintendent. He immediately updates his records, I thank him and hang up.

Now, I don't blame the superintendent, the school itself or even the bus driver. It's not on them to make sure that the information is presented clearly. It's on the parents. Specifically, Chase and my ex since, of course, THIS WAS THEIR STUPID FN' IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Ugh!

I informed Chase of the situation and he was super thankful and apologetic. I decided I'd give him one more shot but if anything like this happens again, I'm calling the school back and telling them to just use Willow's primary stop at my house from now on.

I'm used to people screwing me over but I'll be damned if anyone does anything to possibly hurt my daughter.

I also explained to Willow what to do if she gets off the bus and neither Chase nor her mother are there. Since the stop is right in front of a dollar store, she's to go in there, ask to use their phone and call one of us to come get her (her mother gave her a cellphone but it doesn't have a call plan or anything. She mostly uses it to watch videos and play games). I made sure to drill this information into her head so she knew it by heart.

Once again, I've done my best to accept Chase in my daughter's life. I have to unfortunately because my ex chose sleeping around with him instead of improving herself and working together on our marriage. I even went the extra step and brought him out to that minor league baseball game several weeks ago.

However, the more I deal with him, the more I don't believe in his reliability. I have a habit of walking to the beat of my own drum but Chase puts me to shame. I have no idea how his brain fully functions.

All I know is if his ignorance, laziness, stupidity or whatever else you want to call it causes any harm to Willow, they'll need dental records to identify the remains.

Phew. That actually felt good to get off my chest. Probably back to more girly talking points tomorrow lol.