Title: GAL report came back and I’m just… done
So the GAL report finally came back after 4 months of waiting and $2,800 in fees and it’s exactly what I expected - complete garbage.
She spent 45 minutes with my kids (Emma 12, Jake 10, Lily 7) and THREE HOURS with my ex and his new wife. The report says the children “appear more comfortable and settled” at dad’s house because OF COURSE they do when he’s been telling them for 8 months that mommy is mean and doesn’t love them anymore.
The GAL bought every single lie. Says I’m “overly emotional” during our sessions (yeah no shit I’m emotional, you’re talking about taking my babies away) and that the kids expressed “concerns about mom’s behavior.” What 7 year old uses the phrase “concerns about mom’s behavior”?? That’s straight from my ex’s mouth.
My lawyer says we can challenge it but that’s another $8k minimum and honestly I’m already at $34,200. I took out a loan against my 401k last month just to keep going.
The hearing is set for January 18th and I’m terrified. My ex makes 3x what I do and his attorney is some hotshot from downtown Houston while I’ve got a guy who barely returns my calls.
Jake won’t even look at me during pickups now. Last weekend he said “Dad says you only want us back to hurt him.” How do you even respond to that? These are my BABIES and they’re looking at me like I’m a stranger.
Sorry this is all over the place. It’s 1:30am and I can’t sleep again. Just needed to get it out somewhere where people might actually understand.