Living the ocean dream...

[Underdog]

I should have named my thread The Twilight Zone instead.

Mr. Wonderful phoned me awhile ago to "chat". He was returning a call that I had placed earlier this morning regarding the girls... He was doggone close to being Bob again. What gives?

He told me he realized he hadn't given me a check for his car payment and extra child support yet and apologized. He told me he'd leave me the check tomorrow afternoon, along with the extra $ for the motor home payment too.

I thanked him for it and he apologized again for being late... uh, it's not late at all, but I just said OK.

Then he proceeded to tell me how our neighbors irritate him. This is D9s friend who is moving to a northern suburb (her dad is a dentist, and he bought a practice up north). He gave me the run down of his irritation. I said, "Yes, I know they can be flaky sometimes. I try to have some empathy with them because they're commuting so far until the house sells and we both know how stressed we got when we were living that life a few years ago."

He agreed with me and apologized for slamming them. WTF?

I did tell him that the mom is having some real guilt issues about returning to work, which is the root of some of her problems with the kids and mentioned that she asked me for some help in setting boundaries and discussing consequences.

He started to laugh and said, "Well, you're truly an expert on that subject over the past year, so I know you gave her an earful. BTW, what did you say to her?"

??????

I just commented that I told her to sit the kids down (who are the same age as mine) and say, "Kids, right now Dad and I are living by the seat of our pants. Our lives aren't exactly functioning smoothly right now, and I know you guys aren't really happy about all the changes.

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding, and we'll be through with this soon. Until then, it would be helpful if you would both stop complaining about life because there is little Dad and I can do until the house sells. So the next person who complains must have a solution. Understand?"

Mr. W. was rolling on the floor...

I asked him what was so funny and he said me! Uh, I wasn't trying to be funny... I mustered up a laugh or two and told him that it worked with D9. He said, "Really? You had to talk like this to her?"

OMG, who the hell does he think talked to her????

I made sure I was wearing a big old customer service smile on my face when I said, "Yep, Mr. W. D9's cheerful cooperation is the direct result of a convo exactly like that one, but tailored to our sitch rather than theirs."

He replied, "I had no idea. You're good!"

This convo, along with his thank you card for the birthday gifts and dinner has me stumped. I think this guy is trying to outwit me, and I just can't lock on to his strategy right now....

WHATEVER!