And here we go round the mulberry bush.....

It began with the shoes. He has not purchased any clothing, other than her crew uniform, for more than a year. It seemed reasonable to ask that he take care of purchasing the elder child new running shoes since he has not provided any additional funds since I've had her full time (now 23 months). When I sent him the accounting for September he insisted on deducting the shoes; shoes have never been considered a shared expense. He also bought himself an expensive pair of running shoes at the same time....

Then came October. Still, no reimbursement for September expenses (because of the shoes) and now he owes me money for October shared expenses as well. Initially he indicated he would pay me within a couple of days but then the inner Kraken was released. Here is a brief glimpse of what has followed:

KC: When you do not meet your financial responsibilities on time, you are taking advantage of me and it is fortunate that I am able to budget accordingly to cover these expenses on behalf of our children. I am now out $679 for an undefined period of time which is frustrating and unfortunate.

JW: Can you help me understand what the problem is for you?

(Apparently, not.)

JW: If you are in agreement with Frances continuing Ballet, I'll sign Frances up for winter session and pay for it as an offset to the JCC expenses I owe you in the next couple weeks.

KC: I would prefer to postpone any new shared expenses until September/October shared expenses are resolved.

(note: this session of Ballet doesn't begin until January 7th and we can pay as late as the day class begins AND I'm covering the rowing fees for this month)

JW: Why is it in our children's interest that you again endanger their activities by holding them hostage to our disagreement about the shoes?

Huh?

Then there would be the 13 emails arguing that he should have Frances this Veteran's Day holiday even though he acknowledges that our standing agreement has been that whoever has the children the day preceding a holiday keeps them for the adjoining holiday - in this case, I have the kids on Wednesday so would keep them on Thursday. It wasn't until the 5th message that I got a clue as to what he was actually after:
JW: I forgot to mention in my previous message that I can also trade the time this comimg thursday for a few hours over thanksgiving weekend. Kristen's parents will be in town then and would like to see the gals.

As someone remarked, it is amazing that I've not become a drunkard!