alien invasion II

[hoosiermama]

Thank you, Pup. I have been advised by a few people, gently, to find a way to live with this. And I have contemplated how much of my near obsession with this has to do with my feelings of being powerless. Surely that's part of it--but not most of it. And it's not coming from pain for myself, because I truly don't care any more. I'm very concerned about my daughter's long-term well-being. I read in her journal (mea culpa, but when she's not talking...) that her biggest concern is whether dad will dump the OW and come home. And she thinks a lot about her well-being and mine. (this is a very articulate child.) So while on the outside she seems content and unwilling to stir up any conflict, internally she's somewhere else entirely. And how could I, as a mother who is intent upon continuing to pass along the values she has lived up to this point, say that everything is okay, that I'm okay with this when it goes against everything I've tried to teach her?

I have indeed consulted with my lawyer. And he feels that trying to do anything legally at this point would blow up in my face since the court has far broader ideas about what constitutes "safe environment." While you and I would agree that this is not an emotionally safe environment, the court is more concerned with physical safety, and since I don't know of any potential physical harm it would not be granted. The whole wicca thing is completely irrelevant to the court (and not the biggest concern to me anyway--that being D12 being forced to accept and befriend dad's girlfriend). The part about not meeting her until the end of the school year was not legally binding; it was a matter of inserting it into the agreement in hopes it would be perceived that way, but it was unenforceable.

Glad you're feeling better, pup.