“Now you’re making Halloween about our marriage.”
“No. I’m telling you how your comments are affecting Emma.”
I explained what she’d said about choosing an inexpensive costume and avoiding requests for school supplies.
For once, he didn’t interrupt.
“She’s ten, Zach. She shouldn’t be calculating what her mother can afford before choosing a Halloween costume.”
“I never told her to do that.”
“Maybe not directly. But she’s listening to you.”
He was quiet.
I continued.
“You can buy her dresses. You can buy her gifts. I’m not competing with that. But you cannot come into my home, insult me in front of her, and expect her to agree that you’re the better parent.”
“That’s not what I was doing.”
“Then don’t do it again.”
I told him that concerns about Emma’s needs had to come directly to me, not through her.
And that neither of us should pressure her to choose between gifts or parents.
