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Have you ever laughed so hard at a person's very serious monologue?
I've been in many situations where I'm so nervous about laughing during a serious moment that the pressure builds up and I can't help but chuckle. Stiffling a full-blown hysterical laugh, this woman experienced a similar moment when she received paperwork from her ex-husband and his new wife.
While they had been separated for years at this point, there was still the matter of her young son at hand. The dad obviously wanted joint custody of his boy, and his new wife was happy to take his side. What was hilarious about this serious matter, however, wasn't that they wanted joint custody, but that they had terms to go alongside their shared parenting. Coparenting is hard enough as is without having to provide a detailed nutritional spreadsheet of your toddler's last 72-hours of meals to your demanding ex's new wife.
The list of demands that this woman released to the biomom was so outlandish and so dang funny that she decided to sign the woman up for the local comedy club. Consequently, the comedy club thought this whole “bit” was pretty hilarious too, and that's where the entire situation snowballed into a funny, unfunny type of drama. I believe they call those a “dramedy” nowadays?
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Female model kissing her son for a cute photo together.
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"AITA for signing my ex-husband's wife up for a comedy club after reading her custody demands?"
"I (38F) share custody of my 11-year-old son with my ex-husband (40M). He remarried three years ago to "Megan" (35F).
For the most part, things have been manageable. Megan has always inserted herself into custody discussions, which is annoying but usually harmless." -
"Recently, however, my ex and Megan sent over a proposed revision to our custody agreement. I opened the document expecting something normal. Instead, it read like the script for a sitcom. Some highlights:"
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- My son should not wear blue on their custody days because blue is "emotionally overstimulating."
I should provide a detailed ingredient list for any food he eats within 72 hours before exchanges.
I should not schedule haircuts without consulting Megan because she has "developed a vision for his personal brand."
My son should refer to Megan as his "bonus primary parent" because "stepmom feels too limiting."
They wanted approval rights over what movies he watches at my house because they were concerned about "narrative inconsistency between households."
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"There were several more. I genuinely laughed out loud while reading it. I showed the document to my attorney, who also laughed before telling me not to worry because none of it was likely to go anywhere. Here's where I may be the AH."
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“A week later I saw an ad online for a local comedy club that had an amateur stand-up night. They encouraged people to nominate friends with funny life stories.”
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Mom holding her toddler son in the park.
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So I submitted Megan's first name, email address, and a short note saying something like:
"This woman has the most creative custody demands I've ever seen. If she can explain them on stage, she'll bring the house down." -
"I completely forgot about it afterward. Apparently the comedy club thought it was hilarious.
Not only did they contact her, but they shared her information with several affiliated venues and talent scouts looking for unusual acts. Over the next month Megan started getting emails, calls, and messages inviting her to audition, workshop material, or discuss "her unique parenting comedy perspective."" -
"At first she thought it was spam. Then one recruiter referenced "the custody agreement material." That was when she figured out someone had submitted her. She eventually confronted me. I admitted it. She absolutely exploded."
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"My ex called me screaming that I had humiliated both of them and turned a private family matter into a joke. I pointed out that I hadn't published the custody proposal anywhere. I simply suggested she might have a future in comedy because her demands were funnier than anything I'd heard from actual comedians. This somehow made things worse."
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"Now they're furious, and apparently Megan is still getting contacted by comedy-related organizations despite unsubscribing from several lists. My sister thinks this is one of the funniest things she's ever heard and says they brought it on themselves."
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"My attorney laughed so hard she had to mute herself during a phone call. A few friends think I crossed a line because I used Megan's contact information without permission."
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