Call From Daughter

My daughter texted me yesterday saying she wanted to call me after school and talk. Usually, I haaaaate when people do this. The suspense kills me about what they want to talk about. So I made her tell me the rundown and the basics over text. She said she wants to stay at my house for all of Thanksgiving and Christmas break. 

My daughter chose to live with her dad in 2019 when she was 12, because I was living with my parents and she was not accustomed to their utter lack of conflict resolution skills (their constant yelling and screaming). A few weeks back, I explained to her that my spare bedroom living with Kevin can be her room after she’s 18 if she chooses. Any changes to the custody order would require me to file suit, and since she’s already almost of age and her stepmother is a millionaire, I decided to just wait things out rather than try to fight a millionaire in court. 

It turns out she already wants to sleep in that room on her school breaks.  I live 60 miles away from her high school, so moving in with me full time wouldn’t make sense at this point even if her stepmother allowed it. 

I said as much as I felt like I might be allowed to say. I definitely told her she needed to ask her dad and stepmom. She then sent me a screenshot of her asking her dad and her dad saying “you are definitely old enough to be able to make that decision” or something like that. 

Which is great!  Because not only is he supposed to get all of Thanksgiving break this year, but I was afraid they would still have a problem with it after she was 18. I was afraid they would withdraw financial support during college if she wanted to come and stay with me and they still held grudges against me. A lesser fear would be them seeking a harsher mental health diagnosis so they could pull some Britney Spears crap with a conservatorship. That’s extreme, and as of August, her therapist told me that she still has the same common/mild diagnosis. 

My daughter sounded distressed in the call yesterday afternoon. I felt like there was more going on than what she was telling me. It’s possible that she got into a fight with either one of them and just doesn’t want to tell me. 

I did explain that the flooring isn’t done in that room yet and it still is a bit of a storage room. She emphatically said, “I don’t care!”  Ok so I went online and ordered a boxspring and mattress topper from Amazon. There’s already a mattress in the room. The room needs an AC unit too, but tomorrow, I’m getting an obligation free paycheck. 

Some people debate “throwing your kids out when they turn 18” and I’m just like, what are you talking about?  I’m getting mine back when she turns 18. 

For emphasis, here are “senior pictures” that I took myself at our favorite park. Plus an oldie of her at the Greek festival in 2009. My daughter is graduating from high school this May, and she will turn 18 on June 11, 2025. That’s about 7 and a half months away. 

I had a blog when I was pregnant with her. Back then, blogspot had “pregnancy tickers” that you could put on your blog that counted down to your due date. At this point, it almost feels like another pregnancy countdown. There are just a thousand times more “knowns” in this situation than in a pregnancy where there are so many “unknowns”. 

Speaking of that- I did take a pregnancy test earlier this week, because I have been craving carrot cake. No one ever craves carrot cake!  Luckily, it was negative. Could you imagine having a baby at my age?  That would be literally insane. Also thank goodness the carrot cake craving disappeared.