Playing Games

I had my scheduled call with Aiden last night. To his mother's credit, she answered my question about how Aiden is recovering from his illness--though she did not volunteer any information until I asked and still will not allow me to contact his doctor directly for more information.  

However, when Aiden came to the phone, he immediately said he could not speak to me because he was playing Candyland (a game I got him for his birthday).  The entire phone call lasted under two minutes.  

My calls to Aiden are prearranged;  I call every Tuesday at 5:30 PM and every Saturday at 7:00 PM Pacific time.  There was no reason for Aiden's mom to start playing a game with him just before my call, knowing full well that I would be calling.  She could have played with him another time during the day, or held off until after my call.  Or she could have had him call me back after he was done playing, as I requested in an e-mail I sent her after the aborted call.  She even could have encouraged him to take a break from the game for a few minutes to speak with me, though of course he wouldn't have wanted to.

Instead, she chose to play games with me, by deliberately setting up the call so Aiden would not want to talk, and then failing to grant my reasonable request for a call back later.  These games where she answers my call, but then pulls Aiden away from an activity or actively encourages him to hang up may satisfy her desire to keep Aiden from speaking to me, but at what cost to Aiden? Building a relationship with the father who wants to be an involved and important part of his life is certainly more important for Aiden than playing a game.  Aiden should not be a pawn in her games; he's a little boy who needs his dad.