What’s the craziest thing your parents did to each other after divorcing?

The Parents’ Surveillance War

My divorced parents put cameras in every room of both their houses, including the bathrooms to film us kids 24/7, because they each thought the other was poisoning us against them for their custody battle. Mom made me leave the bathroom door open so the hallway camera could watch me pee while dad documented me looking depressed.

My mom and dad installed cameras in both their houses to film our every move. You see, they each believed the other was poisoning us kids against them.

It started with them recording our phone calls and making us repeat bad things the other parent said. They’d play these recordings for their custody lawyers while we sat there cringing.

When my brother Jake said mom’s new boyfriend seemed nice. Dad made him call mom back and say he felt uncomfortable around the guy. But dad said he was protecting us from mom choosing some stranger over her own children.

He genuinely believed every custody battle was won by whoever had the most dirt on their ex. When I turned 13, mom announced a new system.

Every room in both houses would have cameras recording 24/7 to a cloud server both parents could access. She made it sound reasonable at first, something about transparency and co-arenting and making sure everyone follows the custody agreement.

But then she explained that the footage would be reviewed by both parents daily. Dad installed his cameras that weekend. Suddenly, every moment of our lives was being recorded and scrutinized.

I couldn’t cry about missing my friends without mom texting dad that I was emotionally disregulated at his house. My sister Emma couldn’t play with dolls without dad recording it as evidence that mom was infantilizing her.

When Emma got her period and quietly asked mom for pads, the conversation was on camera. Dad’s lawyer used it in court to argue mom was sexualizing Emma too young by discussing menration.

I developed anxiety about existing in either house. Every movement was analyzed by both parents who sat watching feeds for hours.

Mom would text while I was at dad’s. “I saw you didn’t eat the lunch I packed”. “Are you trying to make me look bad?”.

Dad would call during mom’s time. “Why are you in your room alone?”. “What are you hiding?”.

I just wanted to be a normal kid with divorced parents. Emma started wetting the bed from stress, but couldn’t hide it because of the cameras.

Both parents blamed each other and submitted the footage to prove the other was causing psychological damage. Mom and dad’s war escalated through the cameras.

Mom would stage elaborate healthy dinners during her custody time. Dad would counter with footage of expensive outings and presents. Every day brought new performances designed to make the other parent look inferior.

But I had a plan. I saved up birthday money and bought a can of spray paint. For 2 weeks, I fantasized about freedom from the cameras.

I could talk to my siblings. Honestly, I could cry without creating evidence.

Then Jake caught me with it and immediately told dad to score points. Once dad knew I’d planned to vandalize the cameras, he called mom and they united for the first time since the divorce.

Mom installed additional cameras in my bedroom aimed at my bed to monitor my mental health. Dad put cameras in the bathroom claiming I might hurt myself and needed constant supervision.

They made me quit my after school activities because I couldn’t be trusted without video surveillance. My friends stopped texting because they knew their messages might end up in court.

Mom called other parents warning them I was exhibiting destructive tendencies and couldn’t visit their homes. I couldn’t even use the bathroom without performing normaly for the cameras.

Both parents would text immediately if I spent too long in there. Mom started requiring me to leave the door open so the hallway camera could see inside.

When my teacher called asking why I’d been falling asleep in class, mom told her I was being evaluated for oppositional defiant disorder. Dad filed an emergency custody motion with footage of me looking depressed at mom’s house.

Neither mentioned that I couldn’t sleep because I knew they watched the bedroom feeds all night. But when the social worker arrived for the evaluation, she asked to use our bathroom.

She saw the camera pointed directly at the toilet. She called her supervisor immediately.

And when child services showed up the next day, they found cameras in every room, including close-ups on our beds and bathroom cameras that violated state privacy laws.

Mom tried to explain it was for custody documentation. Dad insisted the other parent made him do it, but the investigators pulled thousands of hours of footage showing us kids living like prisoners in a surveillance experiment.

They interviewed us separately. Emma broke down sobbing about wetting the bed on camera. Jake admitted he’d started self harming in the small blind spot behind his dresser.

I told them about the spray paint and how I’d rather be in foster care than filmed constantly. The judge reviewed a sample of footage that afternoon.

He watched Emma crying under her covers while both parents texted each other timestamps. He saw Jake silently mouththing, “Help me” at a camera. He watched me staring dead at lenses instead of doing homework.

Both parents lost custody immediately.