I Hate It When Other People Are Right

Tuesdays typically suck for the Green family. For starters, mornings in general suck because Bob has suddenly decided it's not cool to get up and get moving anymore, and it is in fact much cooler to dick around all morning and have to be told the same thing over and over and make smartass replies. Then there's the fact Tuesday is Take Your Kid To Therapy Day, meaning a good half-hour drive into south KC and then a 45 minute drive back to preschool. Tuesday is pizza day at school, which means if Bob gets sent home before lunch, he is doubly pissed about it. Tuesday is also typically the busiest day of the week for Ben, meaning if Bob gets sent home, Tuesday's the most inconvenient day possible for him to do it.

Yesterday was no exception to this rule. The morning started with Bob getting The Chair for backtalking me. And he spent a good half hour there because as soon as he would get up, he'd mouth off again and I'd send him right back. Somehow we still managed to get out the door and get to the therapist's office on time. I talked to her first while Bob waited in the lobby, and relayed the problems Ben and I are having with the smart mouth and general nastiness. She reminded me that Bob has learned from the master of smartass comments and general nastiness--ol' db himself. Then she asked me what I do when db treats me like a bitch. I said, "ignore it." She was quiet for a minute and then asked me, "does Bob ever see you ignoring it?" Um...yeah. "So what's that teaching him?"

I coulda had a V-8.

It's true that db gets to talk to me and treat me any way he pleases and I just ignore it. I ignore it because (1) I don't want to stir the pot and (2) saying anything is tantamount to lecturing a houseplant. The unfortunate other side of this coin is that Bob learns it's okay for db to treat mommy like a bitch, ergo, the same must be true for him.

She also told me that given db has had a month to comply with the court's order that he resume sessions with her and Bob, and has not done so, he position is that his visitation should continue in the current vein--i.e., 21 hours every 2 weeks. Good enough for me.

At any rate, she told me to give Bob the choice to either take back/revise his snide remarks or get The Chair. And I started telling him yesterday that I wouldn't have him talking to me that way. And the rest of the day was better. He did fine at school and we had a pretty decent day overall.

For a Tuesday.