I did speak several times to Mr. Wonderful yesterday, and I feel like we're making some progress with joint decision making and problem solving (previously big problem areas for us in our M).
Positive #1--I asked for his input to the decision to allow D9 to have her ears pierced (a 180 for me). She did it 3 years ago and when the earring fell out in the pool shortly after she got it pierced, she let them close. Actually, it was a battle, because she had started complaining about cleaning them and was, in general, a butthead.
Mr. W. was at his desk and very amenable to setting conditions for his approval. He tied some conditions of his own (that he doesn't want to hear one complaint pop out of her mouth for the daily care) and told me to go ahead and let her do them again (she's paying out of her allowance).
I thanked him for his input (but now I see that I appreciate the fact that I didn't get his former standard answer--I don't care). And he ended the call on a happy note. Note to me: call him again this morning and tell him that it made me happy.
Positive #2--I had to phone him back after that call to discuss the math call with her teacher. I let him know that the teacher feels D9 is doing fine but was unprepared for the quiz... she suggested I do some cards and really work on getting her multiplication tables down to automatic right answers. She also suggested that we work on long division (the way we learned it and teach to her) and work with no remainders and then building to decimals.
He said he would work with her on the division (I'm glad because he has real patience for stuff like this). I also chuckled and told him that I'm glad I married a total geek--after all, what kind of guy does differential equations for his job AND LIKES THEM?!!!
He laughed and said, "At your service, ma'am."
That's about it for me for now.
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... no fish for food today!
"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
