tiredmommy
Well-Known Member
I apologize for not being around more. I have been reading but not responding much due to stress and a particularly crazy period in my life.
First, Duckie has been a mixed bad of high achieving easy child and difficult child. Difficult to parent is the best way to describe her. She has friends, her grades are great. But she just keeps upping her game at home. I feel like I'm walking around with a target on my back. husband has, in a sense, stepped it up as I have been backing off of her. He is finally seeing that she is, in fact, very manipulative and passive-aggressive to any one in authority. It's gotten so bad that I don't say anything more that "Have a nice day" when she leaves for school.
She has had a few remarkable achievements: she made first chair in our All County elementary orchestra. Plus, she has been nominated to test for a prestigious gifted math program for 7th through 12th graders at a local state university. The odds are against her making it in: 400 - 600 take the test and only the top 60 make the program, but this is truly an honor to even be considered. We spent a week ago last Friday at the emergency room with Duckie. She's fine but took a really hard fall while ice skating with friends. She was carried out on a back board and transported by ambulance for what turned out to be a badly bruised tailbone. I have a few more white hairs now. She also made it 12 years old one week ago today. Unfortunately, I had to take away her 'friends" birthday party because of rude and disrespectful behavior.
My job has also been extremely stressful, I come home exhausted after a 4 hour shift. husband's job is also stressful so that makes two stressed out parents and a difficult child with a big homework workload most nights. It's definitely not pleasant around here most evenings.
And we finally closed on the new house and moved. The week between Christmas and New Years... in a snow storm. I threw my back out and keep limping along as we just haven't been settled and I keep having to do heavy duty stuff here and at the old house. The good news is that the upstairs is now livable for Duckie as the carpet has been removed and new hardwood has been installed and the closets are finished just this week. So now we can empty the garage of the rest on Duckie's stuff and put husband's stuff into his office so my living space will be much less cluttered (clutter stresses me). Then we can finish moving our stuff from the old house to the new house (stuff in the garage and a few things we just couldn't fit here yet).
And I've been stressed about the old house. We had a friend (J) give us a low ball offer in the fall and it took me months to convince husband that it wasn't in our best interest not to list our house (it's a true starter home in a desirable neighborhood with good schools, etc). So we were going to list the house last Tuesday evening with our realtor (also a friend and the mom of Duckie's BFF) but then J's lawyer called our lawyer with a much higher offer (definitely in the ballpark) so husband told our realtor about it and now we're going with this offer. While I'm thrilled that we have a cash sale in this market, I still feel like we cheated our realtor out of a commission on our old property, especially when the sale on our new home was so difficult.
So that's where we are. I'll be back more and contributing more when I feel a little less like my life is spiralling out of control.
First, Duckie has been a mixed bad of high achieving easy child and difficult child. Difficult to parent is the best way to describe her. She has friends, her grades are great. But she just keeps upping her game at home. I feel like I'm walking around with a target on my back. husband has, in a sense, stepped it up as I have been backing off of her. He is finally seeing that she is, in fact, very manipulative and passive-aggressive to any one in authority. It's gotten so bad that I don't say anything more that "Have a nice day" when she leaves for school.
She has had a few remarkable achievements: she made first chair in our All County elementary orchestra. Plus, she has been nominated to test for a prestigious gifted math program for 7th through 12th graders at a local state university. The odds are against her making it in: 400 - 600 take the test and only the top 60 make the program, but this is truly an honor to even be considered. We spent a week ago last Friday at the emergency room with Duckie. She's fine but took a really hard fall while ice skating with friends. She was carried out on a back board and transported by ambulance for what turned out to be a badly bruised tailbone. I have a few more white hairs now. She also made it 12 years old one week ago today. Unfortunately, I had to take away her 'friends" birthday party because of rude and disrespectful behavior.
My job has also been extremely stressful, I come home exhausted after a 4 hour shift. husband's job is also stressful so that makes two stressed out parents and a difficult child with a big homework workload most nights. It's definitely not pleasant around here most evenings.
And we finally closed on the new house and moved. The week between Christmas and New Years... in a snow storm. I threw my back out and keep limping along as we just haven't been settled and I keep having to do heavy duty stuff here and at the old house. The good news is that the upstairs is now livable for Duckie as the carpet has been removed and new hardwood has been installed and the closets are finished just this week. So now we can empty the garage of the rest on Duckie's stuff and put husband's stuff into his office so my living space will be much less cluttered (clutter stresses me). Then we can finish moving our stuff from the old house to the new house (stuff in the garage and a few things we just couldn't fit here yet).
And I've been stressed about the old house. We had a friend (J) give us a low ball offer in the fall and it took me months to convince husband that it wasn't in our best interest not to list our house (it's a true starter home in a desirable neighborhood with good schools, etc). So we were going to list the house last Tuesday evening with our realtor (also a friend and the mom of Duckie's BFF) but then J's lawyer called our lawyer with a much higher offer (definitely in the ballpark) so husband told our realtor about it and now we're going with this offer. While I'm thrilled that we have a cash sale in this market, I still feel like we cheated our realtor out of a commission on our old property, especially when the sale on our new home was so difficult.
So that's where we are. I'll be back more and contributing more when I feel a little less like my life is spiralling out of control.