Is there any way to ask a court to order a parent to attend parenting classes? My ex and I separated when our daughter was 1.5 years old, and were divorced about 8 months later. My ex then left to join the military (daughter was 2.5 yo). Ex was gone for five years, only seeing daughter 3-4 times. In the meantime, I remarried to a wonderful man who has raised my daughter with me, and she views him as her "dad" (identifying him as her "dad" in family pictures, when describing family to friends, etc.). Also, during what was supposed to be her visitation/parenting time with her dad, she went to her dad's parents' house since he was not around, and they have been very good with her and treated her well.
Now that my ex is home, he is remarried and has two children under 3. Our daughter is now 8. She has complained that her dad doesn't do anything with her during their time together, he expects her to abide by irrational rules (most of them sound like things they did in the military), and she doesn't get to see her grandparents, whom she saw every other weekend for five years. She said she doesn't want to go to her dad's house, she wants to keep going to her grandparents' house like normal.
My concern is that my ex has never been around any child of my daughter's age, and he has not been around her for five years, so he doesn't seem to know how to care for her, bond with her, and treat her like an 8 year old. During conversations that I have had with him about his behavior, he responds with statements that HE shouldn't have to get on her level, that we should be making things easier on HIM, etc., showing that he thinks everyone, including an 8 year old, should be making his life easier and he shouldn't have to change. Also, he doesn't seem to understand that he should be keeping things as normal as possible for her so that this transition is as easy as it can be. Basically, it would be like sending her to see a stranger every other weekend just out of the blue.
Could I ask the court to make him go to parenting classes, at the very least, so that he can learn how to take care of a child? Are there conditions to this that have to be met first? I hate hearing her complain of having to go to his house, and it kills me to think that he could be mistreating her in any way (no proof of that yet, but it still scares me). Any tips would be appreciated!
Now that my ex is home, he is remarried and has two children under 3. Our daughter is now 8. She has complained that her dad doesn't do anything with her during their time together, he expects her to abide by irrational rules (most of them sound like things they did in the military), and she doesn't get to see her grandparents, whom she saw every other weekend for five years. She said she doesn't want to go to her dad's house, she wants to keep going to her grandparents' house like normal.
My concern is that my ex has never been around any child of my daughter's age, and he has not been around her for five years, so he doesn't seem to know how to care for her, bond with her, and treat her like an 8 year old. During conversations that I have had with him about his behavior, he responds with statements that HE shouldn't have to get on her level, that we should be making things easier on HIM, etc., showing that he thinks everyone, including an 8 year old, should be making his life easier and he shouldn't have to change. Also, he doesn't seem to understand that he should be keeping things as normal as possible for her so that this transition is as easy as it can be. Basically, it would be like sending her to see a stranger every other weekend just out of the blue.
Could I ask the court to make him go to parenting classes, at the very least, so that he can learn how to take care of a child? Are there conditions to this that have to be met first? I hate hearing her complain of having to go to his house, and it kills me to think that he could be mistreating her in any way (no proof of that yet, but it still scares me). Any tips would be appreciated!