as it is - my adventure continues (part 6)

[asitis]

It's been a while, so I figured I'd share an update. Nothing much to report on the R front. W has been considerate a couple more times. We also took S6 to IC, and then met for coffee today to discuss it. I was the parent who sat w/ IC while she took S6 to the waiting room, so she kept wanting me to report. As there wasn't much to report, I kept bringing it back to what she thought of the IC and let her talk about some of her recent frustrations w/ S6, their dentist - who was really bad when she took the boys in & S6 had a meltdown. Lots of reflecting feeling and validating.

It went well, and she thought meeting for coffee the day or two after then next session (she'll be reporting parent for that one) was a good idea. Towards the end she asked whether or not I had heard back from the L, and told her I finally got a callback today, but she left a message, and tried back and had to leave a message. We talked a bit about proceeding, and she was trying to get me to think about how she thought one route made sense, and I told her that while I read the stuff she gave me, I'm not at a point where I feel comfortable answering, as I haven't even met with the L. It clearly changed what seemed like a good tone, which was a bit frustrating.

As we walked out, I told her how I was hopeful on S6 now that we were getting him to IC and said I really appreciated that we could work so well for S6's sake and ours. I pointed out an insight she raised and told her how helpful that was.

She asked if I had thought about Thanksgiving, and whether we'd all get together. Caught me a bit off guard. My DB Coach had just told me when I raised the point that I should not invite her (I have the kids) unless she brought it up in a way that suggested openness to the idea, as letting her sit through the holiday apart from her family wasn't the worst thing for her right now. I told her I had been planning to try to do something fun with the boys, including decorating, and that I'd be glad to have us all do it. I told her I'd be glad to cook and host. We were in a rush, so she said let's talk about it after I get back (I'm going away for the weekend).

I have the boys tonight and tomorrow night (I usually don't get them until Thursday evening, but since I'm going away). I asked her if she would come take one of them to school - I do this on two of her teaching days - since I have to teach at 9:30 and need some prep time before. She agreed. Have some new decorations & furniture in the apartment and it is generally neat & clean. I think that will surprise her, as I suspect that she thinks I was only performing and not sincere when we were sharing spaces, and likely let things slack now that I don't have to impress her when we swapped location. The apartment was a disaster after the kids left last weekend, so it works out well that she is coming over tomorrow, rather than earlier.