Fighting Fire with Fire

I am so fuming I can barely sit still. I am trying hard not to lose my cool entirely in front of the kids. I will not let them see that Lars has rattled me. I need to be in control. That is the only way they can relax and know that Lars can not reach into my house and harm them.


I send Lars a text telling him he behaved horribly and should be ashamed of himself. Tell him he is as abusive and self-centered as his mother. Tell him that if he ever sends Liza to my door to retrieve the kids I'll have her arrested, too. She has no parental rights and crossed a boundary. Told him I'd take him to court over the abuse and disruption. Told him to stop calling and interrupting what little studying either upset child can accomplish. If he wants trouble he's found it.

And then I go and spent some time with the kids. One to one. Making sure they knew they were safe. The wolf was not at the door. The guardian was at the gate.

Both kids are pooped and I pile them into their beds early. Pat with his much ballyhooed new meds and Hil with a back rub.

And then I go downstairs to call Scott. Momma needs her own emotional elixir.

As I stride across the livingroom dialing I notice that my daughter, Slobovia, has left her books and papers and projects and rewrites and snipets of paper all across the floor in no particular order. And in the middle of it all, her phone.

I pick it up to see what messages and calls had come in today. Four from Lars.

And two from Liza. From her cell.

I snap it shut, pissed at the nerve. And tell Scott I should call Liza and read her the riot act. She probably has no clue what happened here today. And then I tell him I'll call him back.

I pick up Hil's phone, reopen it and jot down the number.

I go to my phone and write the following text just to Liza:

Liza- I realize that you were probably asked to pick up Pat today and may have had a very one-sided understanding of the situation. Please understand that I had not been consulted and had not given permission for Lars or anyone else to remove either child from my home except to attend a 5:45 appt. In the future, please speak with me directly before approaching the children about leaving with you and/or Lars while they are in my custody. Now that you have my number, there should be no barrier to that request. I appreciate your concern for Pat, and the position in which you were placed. Please respect my position on this issue. Thank you. Good night.

Send.

So there. She gets a polite, respectful but assertive e-mail from me while Lars is undoubtedly running around his house like the lunatic he is. Let her be the judge of who is the sane parent now.