Where do we go from here Part 2

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It's really hard to figure out when to cut off "helping", or even giving it a definition sometimes. Like CWOL asks - fix the internet not for W, but for S. Yeah, that's sticky. Me? I'd do it for the S. He might understand that his Mom is to blame for not being able to study, but at the end of the day he still can't study - and he's the one being hurt.

In Tim's case - he did the window to show off. Could he have done that without fixing the window? Possibly - but opportunity presented itself - and the additional opportunity was a small reminder as to other advantages of a H.

The heater? Well, I hope you don't wind up having to pay that bill in the end! It's amazing that some people can't figure out that a 1500W appliance running 24 hours a day will significantly increase the energy bill. I'm not sure if that even qualifies as a handyman thing so much as falling under education. And who knows, Tim might still have to tell her the cause when she asks him why she has a $500 utility bill.

I too was guilty of "handymaning" when I went over to the house was "granted entry" to my house to use the scanner. The W had mentioned something about me taking away the internet, and she was still paying for it. Besides the double snotty accusation and non-existent benefit to me by her having wifi I had every reason to ignore her and do nothing.

But it was so pathetic - the router has always had occasional hiccups, especially if she travels and her laptop is still trying to connect to the hotel wifi. Or, she forgets to turn off her G4 modem utility. So, I push a big button that's meant specifically to reboot and rescan for devices. The button is right on top! I pushed it, and left a note saying "if you have problems, push this. if that doesn't fix it, unplug the router and modem for a minute".

I guess when she changed into the other person and forgot all the good times, she also forgot that this happened before too!

In the end - I wish I hadn't done it at all. It's not going to help me a bit - and who knows what excuse she might make in her head anyway. She might still think I "took the internet away" and brought it back and expect some sort of reward.

I guess in the end do as little as needed, nothing if possible. But never to the detriment of the kids.