I remember a time on here when I pretended that things were going to be different in the future with BM. It seemed like a relatively lucid balance had been reached and we were able to communicate. Of course that was over in like a week. Ever since, the woman has continued her wild zigzag of behavior and I am without hope that it will ever change! So here's the nutshell:

*She has decided that the twins need braces. We are seeking a consultation from an orthodontist, to make sure that braces are NECESSARY and not just cosmetic (read: both can chew and speak perfectly, and there are no noticeable "bad" parts to their teeth- all seem in line, etc......nothing that would prevent them from, say, making friends or making a team or getting into college. Shallow society, I know- that is why I'm including that detail. Their teeth LOOK fine and they work as they're supposed to work.

BM has of course declared that their braces will cost $6000 EACH and that DH MUST pay his share. He is "not allowed" to "hold this up" because "twins want to be done with braces by the time they start high school and they want us to be able to pay the braces off". So she actually expects DH NOT to get a second opinion about this. And of course at that price, she is talking Invisalign or some other upper-level braces, not just plain braces that are good enough for most of the kids I see in this smile-happy society. Historically she has made some VERY poor financial decisions and I believe that she can't distinguish between "needs" and "wants". She is trying her best to turn her children into entitled, spoiled little princes- then she gets mad when they act like entitled, spoiled little princes.

*She is trying to get the twins to say that they want to stay with her during the school weeks and see DH on weekends- in other words change the custodial agreement, for no valid reason- and has threatened them that if they do not say they want to stay with her, she will not allow them to continue in the district they've gone to school in since kindergarten. PS: she works out of state for three days each week.

*After she stopped using a court-appointed email several years ago, created three other accounts and jumps wildly back and forth between them, playing games along the way like "I don't receive emails at that address", "Don't ever send CUSTODY emails to THAT address" and the ever-popular "Emails you send from THAT account are blocked by my account" (and btw it is easier to get blood from a stone than to block gmail accounts), and everyone's favorite game, "I will no longer communicate with you over email. TEXT ONLY" to be followed in a week or two by "No more texting- you're blocked"......DH has requested that she sign up for Talkingparents.com. This will keep their custodial details concise and organized. Of course she has refused to answer the invitation sent from the site or set up her own account. Not enough games to play!

*Annoying little detail: DH requests that twins' soccer (which she pays not one dime for) kits and bags go to school with them on days that he picks up from school, so that he doesn't need to drive 5 miles to her house in her town to pick them up...necessitating that he wait in the car while they get their bags and raid her house of the massive amounts of junk food that she stocks. She tells them, and DH, that they can't possibly carry two bags to school and keep them in their lockers until dismissal. (THEY ARE 12.)

Anyone have any advice on BRACES or TALKINGPARENTS? And thank you for reading my ramblings!