Drama

Friday I got a call from the high school. The bio-dad of Pickles was there trying to sign him out for the day. For once the school did exactly what it's supposed to do and did NOT release my son to this man.

Things would've been so different if he had contacted me first. If the kids were open to seeing him, I would have been more than happy to arrange a visit. It all reeks of sneakiness. He doesn't want to contact me because he sees me as the babysitter.

He has NO respect for their current lives. They've moved forward and he's stuck in the past. He hasn't seen them since the twins were 4 and Pickles was 8. That's a lifetime to a child.

I'm glad that the kids and I have always been able to have open, honest dialogue. They told me immediately when he first contacted them and everytime he's ever tried to contact them.

I mentioned the school incident Pickles, he had no idea. The office didn't tell him his dad was there.

Now I have some decisions to make.

Finding Value

The conversation on the way home from a Parent-Teacher Conference this morning.

Me: "People see something of value in you. Your teachers could have wrote you off. They could have said oh well, this kid doesn't want to learn. Heck with him. But instead they try to work with you, encourage you and support you. They see something of value in you."

Pickles: "How come all of you see it and I don't ?"

Me: " Perhaps you don't know what to look for."

He won't even give himself a chance. How do I teach him or help him to discover what he is capable of if he won't even give himself a chance ?
He loves being successful as long as he doesn't have to work at it.

I like him. He's a good kid. He's fun to talk to. He's calm, even-keeled, and loving. He's charming and charismatic. He CAN be successful. He could become anything he wants.

Why can't he see himself the way other people see him ?

New Years Day 2011

lol.... I have soooo many posts in my head. Just no time to write.

Happy New Year !!!

This year we decided to try out a new family tradition. We took all the kids snow tubing at Mad River Mountain Ski Resort. They had entirely too much fun. lol

I took pics and watched. I was not trying to get injured in any way shape or form.

Surviving Christmas

Hooooo-weeeee...

I'm just glad its over.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Right now the kids are downstairs playing Just Dance 2 for the Wii. They've been playing it all weekend.
December 19th we had our family Christmas party. My nephew A-2 did a magic show, it was wonderful. Then nephews a1, a2, a3 and Daisy and Pinky danced/mined to 'I Heard it through the Grapevine' it was too cute.

Christmas Eve was filled with the usual drama. Daisy provoking everyone to craziness and 'Cole punching her in the face. I had to jump in the middle of the fight, to do damage control. Every Christmas season there's always some drama.

Christmas Day was pretty nice, much calmer than I expected. The kids got clothes and shoes and I limited their electronics to one item per person. No point in buying a bunch of stuff to get destroyed. (wish that would have occured to me when they were younger. lol)

November

34 days till Christmas. I've been busy trying get get myself prepared for the holidays. The kids are always stressed out this time of year. They've been fighting amongst themselves more than usual. Everybody is tense and on edge.

Pickles has been grounded for all his bad grades + getting suspended...TWICE !
But he seems to be heading around a corner. We just had parent-teacher conferences this week and he's doing better. He actually has a B in geometry. Yes, folks you heard me correctly a "B". I'm proud of him, but I know he struggles with keeping up with his grades. He's getting a lot of help at school and that is working wonders for him.

The twins are doing pretty good in their first year of middle school. They love to talk and that is creating some issues for them. Overall they are doing well.

'Cole is also doing pretty good. She loses her focus every so often, but she knows what she has to do to pull her grades up.

As for me...
I'm just plowing along. lol Holidays are stressful for me because there always seems like there's too much to do and no time to do it. I'm a planner so it helps me to plan out everything. I've been spending so time rediscovering myself. I've been Mommy for so long, I've almost forgotten who Kathy is. I'm enjoying getting to know myself again.

That's all for now. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving !

Pinky and Daisy's 12th Birthday Spectacular !!

Pre-teen girls at a hotel. I'm just glad I didn't have to clean up. lol

They all had alot of fun. We were joined by the kids' maternal bio-cousin. She seemed pretty nice. We talked about things. The kids really didn't react too much to her. They said hi and reluctantly gave her a hug.

They played at the waterpark. They played in the pool. They watched movies and ate themselves silly in the hotel room.

Bad Pickles

Pickles is having a rough school year so far. He's a bright child that thinks he can get by on his looks and sense of humor. He goes to school and sits in class. He doesn't do ANY work. He likes to wander the hallways of the school. Not getting in trouble.... just not being where he's supposed to be.

The one thing he used to have going for him is that he's charming and adults usually like him.

When I went to open house a few weeks ago I found out he doesn't even have that anymore.

His social study teacher looked at him with a look I can only describe as malice. He looked like he wanted desperately to wrap his hands around my son's throat.

Pickles has been my son for many years. Seven or eight I think. I have never seen him blatantly act disrespectful towards an adult. He was awful. I couldn't believe THIS was my child. Rolling his eyes, making smart comments under his breath.

I was totally stunned.

He is now grounded. I am in constant contact with the teachers. I wish they would have contacted me before things got sooo bad. His grades are in the toilet. He is in credit recovery so that hopefully he'll get enough credits to graduate. HE doesn't seem the least bit bothered by this. At all.