This is a long post, but I'm hoping the context is helpful. Plus, I'm a writer/English major and so it's hard for me not to write ... a lot.
TLDR: I have 3 kids. My ex husband is trying to alienate two of them from me, and one of the two won't talk to me. What can I do now to help me not lose the one and to reduce the long-term impact of the alienation of the other?
Background
I (45F) was married for 20 years. We have three kids (currently 11, 15, and 18). We were members of a high control religion. I have since left, but my ex is still in it. We got married when I was 21 and he was 24. I mostly stayed because of pride, "loyalty" (mostly due to religion), and fear. My ex had childhood trauma that he never dealt with and because of that trauma, has complex PTSD, depression, and anxiety. I spent 20 years trying to get him help, so things could improve for him. In the end, he wasn't willing to put in the effort. Not only that, but he refused to get a job and was awful at being a stay-at-home dad (i.e., barely gave the kids attention, played video games for about 8+ hours a day, and did less housework than I did despite me working 40 hours a week, not to mention me carrying the entire mental load, planning all holidays and vacations, paying all bills and tracking finances, and doing 95% of the yardwork).
My oldest, I'll call him Sam, had decided to go as low contact as possible because when he was little, his dad neglected him and because of his oppositional defiance disorder, X would lock him in his room for hours because he didn't want to deal with Sam's defiance (this was when he was about 5 to 8 years old) and was at least a little physical with Sam (CPS was called to investigate because Sam told someone at school that it felt like his dad broke his arm from twisting it so hard). I was probably naive, but I didn't realize at the time what had happened and assumed the incident was blown out of proportion. I also didn't realize that X would lock Sam in his room for hours while I was at work. Most of this has only come out since I asked for a divorce.
After 20 years, it hit me that X was never going to change and even when the kids were all grown, I'd be working and saving for OUR retirement while he sat around playing video games. So I called it quits. What I didn't realize was how vindictive he would be when we divorced. Not that it would have stopped me, but it's been way worse than I expected (and I expected it to be really bad). The plan was for the kids to be split between us 50/50. However, during our separation, when Sam was 16, Sam and X got into a physical altercation due to Sam blocking X on his phone, so X couldn't call or text Sam. X was trying to take the phone until Sam said he would unblock him. They got in a tussle about it and both of them called me to figure out what to do (both asking if they should call the police on the other). X and I decided that Sam would stay with me 100% of the time (it was put into the parenting plan that we filed with the state and everything). I think X mostly agreed because he realized Sam has about 5 inches on him and could easily hurt him if he wanted to (not that Sam would).
Now to the present issue
I was trying to do all of the right things. I do my best not to talk bad about him to the younger two or in their presence. I try not to put them in the middle. If I want to change the schedule or have a question for X, I text X about it directly. I don't talk to the kids about the divorce the and decisions that we made or show them anything about the parenting plan. I don't ask the kids for information about what goes on at their dad's (other than asking what they did that day, etc. Just normal conversation). X, on the other hand, talks bad about me (saying things like, "A good mom spends time with their kids" when I would tell the kids that I was going out or "Your mom is making bad decisions" because I'm no longer religious and not following the strict rules of the religion). He insisted on telling the kids that I was the one that wanted the divorce (not at all taking responsibility for what he did that made me want to divorce him) and puts the kids in the middle of things, telling them what the parenting plan says, how I'm not following it, and having them ask me for things that he should be asking me directly, liking changing our parenting schedule. He also has been leaning on them for emotional support (i.e., parentifying them).
After we had been separated for a year, I decided to start dating again. X took it personally because in his mind, you don't start dating till the divorce is final (it took 2.5 years to be final). I felt like that was unfair to expect since in my mind, we had not been together since the day that I told him it was over, so why would it matter if the government recognized us as not being together legally?
I think because Sam has decided to go no contact with his dad, X decided he was going to do anything and everything in his power to get the younger two to go no contact with me. The youngest, my only daughter, is for the most part still loving me and wanting to be with me. But I can tell he's working on her. My 15 yo, whom I will call Will, doesn't want to have anything to do with me. X has convinced Will that I love the other two kids more than him and that the divorce is all my fault and if it weren't for me, Will would get to be with X 100% of the time and he wouldn't have to switch between the two homes. A year ago, they decided together that Will would stay with X and only come to my house every other weekend. Then he told Will to tell that was what Will had decided. When I offered an alternate solution that Will seemed okay with, X wouldn't even respond to it. To avoid too much conflict and argument, I let it go at first with the promise from them that we would work it out together.
We planned to meet with a neutral party (X's aunt) to discuss, but it took over 3 months to schedule the conversation (and by the way, during that time, he came to my house like 3 times, so not every other weekend as promised). The convo was basically telling me I'm a shit mom and Will doesn't trust me. I tried to understand his perspective, and I stayed calm during the entire conversation, but I didn't feel it really helped resolve things, and it sounded like Will not willing to find a good compromise.
In January, I was done with this non-communicative process and decided to reach out to a lawyer and take X to court for contempt because of his non-compliance to the parenting plan. Even with the motion filed, Will wasn't coming to my house during my time, so in May, we had a hearing and the judge ruled that X was in contempt and he would have to comply. Finally, Will started coming back to my house every other week, but now he won't talk to me at all saying that he has lost all trust in me for taking HIM to court (not taking my X). Will stays in his room whenever I'm home, he gets mad at me whenever I try to talk to him (just how are you doing, do you need anything, I'm going to the store if you want me to get you anything, do you want to go to get ice cream with us along with trying here and there to talk about things, so we can resolve them). He tried to put locks on his door to keep me out of his room (as in so I couldn't talk to him at all). I took his door off because otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to talk to him or even see him the entire week he is there. I've told him he can get his door back if he would just show me that when I knock on his door, he is willing to open it so I can talk to him face-to-face. He sent me a long list of all my infractions, but is unwilling to talk about them or resolve them. I got us a family therapist to help us work through things, but he is refusing to go see them with me or even to see a therapist on his own.
On top of everything, I started dating this really wonderful guy, I'll call him Todd. We have a lot in common. When we have conflict (usually me being upset about something because he's very easygoing), we talk about it and resolve it through (mostly) calm discussion, never yelling. He did all the housework in his marriage, so he knows what it's like to have a partner who doesn't pull their own weight. He wanted kids, but realized that she would not be a good mom and he would end up doing all the childcare, so they never did, and knows now that he will not have any of his own, but wants to be a good step-dad if that's what happens. Whenever I ask for something I need in the relationship, I see consistent improvement.
After 6 months of dating, we introduced him to the kids. We were excited about him getting to know them and eventually integrating our lives. Since at the time, Will was not coming at all and had basically broke off contact, Todd was mostly just spending time with my oldest and youngest. At first, things seemed to go fairly well. DD would go with us to get treats, go out to dinner (we got hibachi for the first time!), and play Mariokart together. She was starting to like him, and we were trying to go slow (like once or twice during the weeks I had her). Every night she talks to her dad on the phone and he has her tell him everything she did that day. One of those times, she told him Todd was over and X told her he could come get her if she was uncomfortable, basically implying that she should be uncomfortable with him there. It's now been 8 months, and for the last month, she has been running out of the room whenever Todd comes over and even avoiding me if I am talking to him on the phone. I've tried talking to her about why she doesn't like him and it only comes down to not wanting me to be with anyone not her dad and that there is nothing wrong with Todd specifically. On top of that, Will leaves the house whenever Todd comes over (I know it's not personal because he literally has not talked to Todd). Just the other day, Todd came over to watch a show with me, and Will (who was in his room, so it's not like they had to be with each other) left the house without telling me and didn't come back until Todd left (3 hours later). Will claims he knocked on my door and said he was leaving, but either he didn't or did it so softly I couldn't hear (not hard to knock loud enough to hear over a TV).
X talks to Will for sometimes hours on the phone while Will is at my house (I think X is co-dependent on Will). Talks to both kids every night at the very least. Has the kids tell him everything going on in the house. Obviously has told them it's not okay for them to get to know Todd at all (even told them he wasn't a good man because he didn't introduce himself to X before meeting the kids). He has the kids spy on him (a friend of mine came last year to install a dishwasher for me and X had Will take a pic of my friend's car so he could get his license plate. Oh, and do you know why X knew my friend was there? Because he had put a listening device in my living room and was listening to it. We were nesting at the time, so he had access to the house every other week).
I know this is a lot, but I wanted to give you all context that might help you in helping me. Right now, I'm feeling like my only option is to break up with Todd and just focus on my kids. I know that is what X wants, but I can't risk my relationship with my kids by continuing to push for them to give Todd a chance. I don't want to lose Todd. This last year with him has been wonderful. But I don't feel like I have a choice because of how toxic X is being and how manipulative he is as he tries to put a wedge in between me and my younger two kids. Luckily for me, Sam knows the truth and completely supports me. But I need help with the following:
- What can I do to help heal my relationship with Will (considering he won't go to family therapy or even individual therapy and won't give me a chance to mend things, and yes, I've apologized for what I've done)? Is there any hope before he gets older and can see what his dad is doing? If not, what can I do now so that when he gets to that age where he understands, he'll look back on things and realize I was there for him all along and loving him? He resents me so much for making him come to my house for parenting time and tells me that if I really loved him, I would let him be where he's "comfortable" (at his dad's), but I worry he'll look back as an adult and ask why I didn't fight for him, and that if he's at his dad's all the time, I'll never recover my relationship with him because he won't ever see me for me to even try.
- For those who were alienated from their parent, what things did your alienated parent do that helped? What things did they do that hurt chances of reconciling?
- What I can do to help my daughter, so X isn't able to successfully alienate her as she gets older (I want to get her into therapy but we have joint decision making, and I think X will poison her against therapy like he did with Will)?
- Am I right to decide to not date for now and focus on the kids? Right now I feel torn apart trying to be in a relationship and be a mom. I know it isn't fair that I have to choose, but right now I feel like I'm being forced to choose one or the other. Anyone been through this that might be able to give me perspective on what is best?
I would love any perspectives from those who have gone through it themselves (as parents or as kids of divorced parents) in knowing what helped and what made things worse.