Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Je Suis fatigues

The Professor told me in no uncertain terms that he doesn't like the way I look today. "Excuse me?" I can't put anything over him, so I may as well admit it. I'm tired, absolutely exhausted, and I don't know whether it's all the juggling I have to do at work, whether it's my difficult child whom I have no energy for, whether it's all the demands of life in general or whether I simply need a friggin' vitamin. I guess I should check it out, which I will as soon as I manage to get the time to. But it felt good that he was actually concerned. "Rest upstairs in my room", he ordered. Yeah, sure. I've got a pile on my desk to contend with among a meeting I have at my Difficult daughter's school (ex-Criminal one). So I go into the meeting and we're talking BORDERS, of which my daughter has none. If you don't give her permission for something, like going to her boyfriend's house all the way on the other side of town, she'll hitchhike there. They told us at the school that we should physically hold her down from running out, even if it takes hours. That sounds like a really enjoyable evening for me. Plus she's strong and hits and kicks as good as any tough street kid. "I want to tell you something about her boyfriend's family", said the tough counsellor at her school. "The father just came out of drug rehabilitation. He's a drug addict. But the mother is ok." How can the mother be ok, if the father is a drug addict is beyond me. I'm not ok and my husband is addicted to the Holy Leaf, nothing stronger. Great. I thought - the kid can still be ok and together, even with a dysfunctional family. Why does dysfunction attract dysfunction. My kids would never hook up with a bunch of bookish kids, of American extraction. It's too normal. I thought of something to console me and thought of Keith Richards with 2 lovely teenage daughters. Do young men not go out with them because of their dad's former addiction to heroin and present-day vodka binges? I think not. So we made a pact - the 4 of us in the room - that she can see her boyfriend and go to his house from school twice a week. She did yesterday and she has one more day left to see him. Today was the day and she has to come home at 10:00 pm, and not stay over at his house. If she doesn't I'm to get in touch with the other counsellor immediately. If she does, she gets to see him on weekends. Daughter did not like those rules and regulations one bit and frequently made the "fuck you" sign with her fingers to us and called us all drug addicts. Everyone in the room.

4 comments:

lisoosh said...

Poor you, you really need that vacation.
My uncle had three kids when he was very young, he was drunk and stoned the whole time, I was terrified of him. Those three daughters are all wonderful adults with nice families, and their own successful business ventures. My aunt spoiled her kids rotton and her oldest is stable but useless (luckily he has a smart wife), the middle one a junkie and drug dealer who set fire to my aunts house, and the youngest, who has a normal life and responsible job, lives far away from her family. You just never know where it comes from.

Anonymous said...

Je suis fatiguee - nous sommes fatigues

Don't tell me to f*** off, s'il vous plait

Anonymous said...

AH! don't crowd the girl, it'll kill her heart....so what if she doesn't succeed at school, it's not the end of the world, she'll find her own way...what is her boyfriend actually like? if she loves him let her enjoy it, but yes keep a distant eye on her...sorry! that's my opinion!

Loopi

timx said...

Live by your own standards, not someone else's - and get some rest!