Extracurricular activities and equal say
Hi everyone, father to a 4 year old boy and I have him 50/50 entirely down the middle and he spends 6 months of the year with me. I’m incredibly active in his life and I don’t miss any appointments or opportunities to support him. Mother refuses to take him to any appointments and won’t let us vaccinate and she threatened to sue our dentist for trying to bill her half instead of sending me the full bill. Needless to say, she’s a bit controlling and unreasonable. I picked my son up the other day and the first thing he says is that he was signed up for soccer. I asked his mother what he was talking about and she said she signed him up and doesn’t need my permission and refuses to provide me with the information for the program or discuss it ahead of time before she signed him up. She refuses to consider a place that’s central between our two homes after she moved an hour away to live with her boyfriend so she could quit her job and live with him. I’ve expressed that I don’t want to miss any practices or games and she says I can take him during my weeks but that’s impossible to maintain a healthy routine for him if his games and practices are going to be an hour there and back multiple times a week. Now she is trying to sign him up for preschool and extracurricular activities and tells me that preschool isn’t considered real school so she doesn’t need permission and also said she doesn’t have to get my consent to sign him up for soccer or other extracurriculars. Can someone please read the excerpts from my decree and messaging app below and help me figure this out.
Additional Child Expenses. i. The parents shall equally share the cost of required school fees for the Child. ji. The parents shall equally share the cost of any extracurricular activity or private school costs for the Child if the extracurricular activity or school is agreed upon in advance in writing.
g. Joint Decisions. The parties shall be responsible for making joint decisions regarding their Child's education, medical care, dental care, religious upbringing, counseling, and other major parenting issues. The parties shall consult together regarding a major parenting issue. They will share their research ideas and point of view. The parties will do their best to agree on a solution that meets the best interest of the Child. If the parties reach an impasse, the parents will go to mediation with each party paying half prior to involving the Court. If the issue is unable to be resolved in mediation, the issue is reserved for Court decision.
Messages from Mom:
I signed him up for a kids league. I will send more information when the coach reaches out- which will not be until March. I paid for this and I have the freedom to sign him up for extracurricular activities for his weeks with me without your permission. I hope you will be involved by being at his practices and games when your schedule allows. I will send the information when I receive it. Thanks.
The stipulation does not say I cannot sign him up for extracurricular activities during my time with him. I will send the information when it comes in march. If you want to take him to his 20 min practices/ games on your weeks-you're allowed too. I'm allowed to have him participate in activities on my weeks at my own expense, just as you are. In the tuture, we can collaborate on the location for extracurricular activities so it can fit both our needs. Extracurricular activities are not considered a major parenting decision by the way.
Would love any feedback here on how this decree would be perceived by a judge. My sons with me for 7 days straight every other week. Her signing him up for extracurriculars places an unfair obligation on me since he’ll miss games and practices if I don’t take him during my weeks. I’d love to take him but his bedtime is at 7 and we wouldn’t get to bed till 10PM if I had to drive two extra hours a night just to get him somewhere. Half way between homes is much more reasonable.