Ooof. So, happy Thursday, or whatever.
Yesterday was a real doozy. We’re having some serious problems, and they’re getting harder and harder to tackle. The divide between Mom’s house, and Dad’s house is growing wider and wider. You’re mature enough to handle and understand the truths about this, and we need to start facing them head-on, or things are going to turn really bad, really fast. It’s affecting all of you in different ways, but all equally seriously. Charlie and Thea have sleep schedules that look like a Richter Scale after a magnitude 8.0 earthquake, and their emotions and coping skills are like a windchime in a thunderstorm. Charlie luckily doesn’t get much in the way of homework, and tackles it immediately when she does, so, it’s not affecting her grades, yet, but, as you know, she has trouble coping with ANY amount of frustration or disappointment, and that’s still just the tip of the iceberg. Thea does fine with school when she’s home, but, at mom’s, she never does any of her daily reading, and mom offers no help with homework, or even checks to see if Thea does it. 10 years-old is far, far too young to be responsible for ensuring your own homework is done, with no adult oversight, or help. Thea has learned from extreme isolation at mom’s, to entertain herself through devices or the internet, and it’s now become a serious enough addiction, that I’m considering either forcing strict limitations, or looking into addiction therapy. These are all VERY serious issues, that have only gotten worse over time…. Which brings us to you…
It’s time to stop playing around with all of this. We’re all very well aware that these years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds ALL matter. We won’t ever, ever get them back. We need to make changes to start being much, much more intentional with what we do, and focus on the future. You’re very, very lucky to have teachers that allow you to make up work, but, as of my writing this, this is where you’re currently at:
You started a mission this year, to really kill it in school, and you did, for quite a while. I don’t know what happened, but, despite me nagging, harping, checking, double-checking, and triple-checking, I just can’t seem to get you to grasp the gravity of the situation we’re in with your grades. I’m in no way glossing over the emotional, logistical, and stressful challenges you’re facing with everything going on, but I care about ONE thing… you three kids. I need for the three of you to understand that time is the only thing we can’t ever get back… and when this time that we have is over.. it’s gone.
I shouldn’t have to be the one doing it, but, I’ve recalculated your GPA, and unweighted, you are down to a 2.72, currently. I’ve tried to explain to you that you can go to college for FREE, if you’re willing to do the work, but, you only get ONE chance. There is SO much that you can do, SO much that you’re capable of, and, I just can’t hear the excuses that it’s “too hard” anymore. It isn’t hard, it’s just tedious, and a lot of work. It’s boring, unfun, and pulls you away from the things that you’d rather be doing. I’m not going to go into the phone addictions, but, we have a lot of work to do on learning how to focus again. I’ve gone to a lot of extra work to be sure that you all can enjoy being kids without having to worry about a ton of chores, doing your laundry, earning your own money, or really anything else outside of the simple responsibilities of picking up after yourselves, and schoolwork. That’s really all I expect. You CAN do this, and you can do it without me needing to check your grades every two days, ask about assignments, e-mail teachers, and make excuses for you when you just put it off for too long, and don’t get it done.
Whether any of you believe it or not, our lives are changing, and we need to take the control that we can, to direct it where we want it to go. I know that it will be a long, hard, difficult road, but, in the end, it will have been totally worth it. We need to stop making excuses, living false truths, and pretending like the things are aren’t, are okay. It’s going to start with the court evaluator, and move back through court. It’s going to continue by holding our ground, valuing our time for what it’s worth, and not letting what’s ours in terms of happiness, time, and love, be stolen or taken from us. We’ve earned what we have, and we’ve built it. This time is ours, we need to take it, and build everything we can with it.
Be ready when you come home. We need to get you into shape to kill it at school, make it obvious that your the best cheerleader that Fort has, get prepped for driving school, and develop good habits moving forward. We have totally got this, I promise.
I hope that you have a really awesome day today. Set yourself one goal, and accomplish it. Find out what’s happening with your English grade and how to fix it. Talk to someone at school that you’ve been avoiding. Come up with an idea for a project, and accomplish it. Tell someone how you feel. Write down your thoughts about something. Take some photos. Just anything to get your started. Things are changing.
I love you 75 billion,
-Dad
Ice Creams