Email to Friends about this morning's issues...

have changed names to protect the innocent...

List of Characters:

Little Girl - my 6 year old daughter
Big Girl - my 10 year old daughter
DH- my dear husband, but he is not part of this story
Dad - is their bio-Dad (my ex-husband, both children are from that relationship)
WWofW - is their stepmother (i'll let you fill in what you think WWofW stands for...LOL)



Hey guys, I just need a little prayer today. Yesterday was Little Girl's 6th birthday and while we had a good time on Saturday celebrating we didn’t “do” anything last night to mark the occasion. I had some church things to take care of and the girls had homework etc. Anyway, the girls came home with flyers in their backpacks for a fund raiser for their school at Chuck E. Cheese tonight. Both of them really wanted to go, but Big Girl (10 year old) goes to her Dad’s on Thursday nights.

I told her that I would be willing to take her, but she would need to call and ask him if she could go and I would drop her off after it was over. She didn’t want to call and I wasn’t going to do it for her. Finally after lots of attitude she called and left a message for her Dad. He called back this morning and was trying to work the details out with me and then said “I just don’t know if she deserves to go because she hasn’t really been doing her reading homework.” I asked him what he meant and I guess she has been reading the same book every night and then using it as her reading log homework for the next day. Well, this escalates between he and I about what should/should not be done at homework time. I finally just said “You need to talk to Big Girl and make a plan. I am willing to take her, but it is your night and your time and you need to decide.” So I gave the phone back to her and about 10 minutes later she was in tears and I was talking to her Dad and he was telling me that she wasn’t going. “OK,” I said and hung up.

Well, Big Girl had since locked herself in the bathroom and was crying. I knocked on the door and asked if I could come in. She wouldn’t let me so I unlocked the door and sat on the floor next to her. She started getting angry at me because her Dad said “NO”. I understand her frustration and anger, but I was not going to allow her to put it on me. I told her that I was willing and ready to take her to this thing tonight and I was willing to compromise, but her Dad made the final decision to not allow her to go. Then she said she was mad at WWofW (her step mom) who apparently told her Dad that she was using the same book over and over for her reading log. Well, come to find out it is a Ready Reader book with lots of stories, but I am not sure it is on her level...it maybe a little lower than what she can actually read at...so that may be part of the problem also.

About the best I could come up with today was sending some books from our home with her to her Dad’s and telling her to use those. Then I also told her that she needs to show WWofW/her Dad the Ready Reader book so that they know that she is not reading the same thing everyday. She was still upset when I left her at daycare to catch the bus, but she was still fuming with her Dad/WWofW.

I just needed to get all of this off my chest before I started my day. I just want to be a good Mom, but I hate to see my kids hurt. I just pray I did the right thing.

Thanks for listening. Latibug