Ahhh Mondays! So to start the day off, I call Dr. Foreman, the orthodontist for Samantha. I ask him to call me back to arrange payment, my wife has given me money to pay for my daughters braces. On the one hand I am happy to have such a loving wife, on the other I am irritated that I pay over 62% of my income to a person who has never even acknowledged what she has received at any level and is actively turning my daughter against me.
No return call all day. I pick up the kids. Max is thrilled to see me! Sam, not so much. He proceeds to try to explain to me about the argument that he and his mother got into. According to Max he was hanging up his mother’s bras (doing laundry) and he went in to ask his mother if he was doing it right. Christa snapped at him, just get it done! She was apparently talking with her mother and said into the phone he’s just trying to get out of doing the work and getting back to his game. Max was upset about this and he decided to act out and hit him self in the head. Max then said that she was tell him to “Get over here!” and he told her to say please. I got it, she was being rude and he in his own way was standing up to her. I listened and asked, so she was yelling at you? He said, yes. I said to him, Max you cannot control how someone treats you, but you do get a choice on how you respond and I expect that you would not be rude and you were rude. Sam proceeds to interject several times that he got what he deserved, she saw nothing wrong with the way her mother behaved, she didn’t yell, just raised her voice. I queried Sam, so it’s ok to treat someone bad sometimes? She just glared at me…. I said so if I say hey Sam sometimes your a jerk! But I love you that’s ok? She didn’t like that. Max then says, so I can’t play games for two weeks and Mom says that if I play over here I will be in big trouble! Oh its Monday, so now you tell the kids whatever I decide to do they may pay? Excellent!
I receive a call from an unknown number and answer it. It’s Christa on three way with the Dr. Now I am irritated, the Dr. couldn’t call me back as requested. The three way is not working well and he cannot make out what I am saying. I repeat myself, what methods of payments can you accept for the $1,500 down? He responds he can take Visa or check. I tell him great, I’ll do Visa, he says okay proceed, I say no, not on a three way. You can call me back. He says he can’t but he can do it on Wednesday. Alright great! Then he proceeds to state that he wants Christa to be primary on the loan agreement, that he knows her and doesn’t want to get in the middle of a divorce situation. I guess it shouldn’t piss me off, but it does, since I have never mentioned our “situation” I find his demeanor irritating. Further, he requests Christa be there on my week for Sams braces. I clear off the phone as fast as possible. I did not handle it well, I will continue working on it.
I go downstairs after the call and the first thing out of my daughter’s mouth: Dad, can I go to Italy this summer with Mom? I just say oh really? Wow! Sure! What do I care? I do care, I just don’t have any way of changing it without putting the kids in the middle. So I will just let it go. It’s amazing how every week with Max and Sam starts out with decompression and problems, then by the end of the week everything is mellow and good. Then just went it’s gotten normal it’s time to go and the cycle begins again.
It’s Monday! I am glad my kids our home, I am frustrated this continues to be such a frustrating experience.