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I Was Never the Mom Who Got Angry Over Spilt Milk
When your ex undermines your parenting in divorce
One day during elementary school my youngest walks through the door. He can barely contain his little six-year-old excitement. He wants to show me his report card.
“Don’t you know mom doesn’t care about our grades,” says his older brother. “She cares about our behavior.”
Truer words were never spoken.
I am the mother of boys after all.
It’s a good day when the school doesn’t call.
But my middle son was correct. The very first thing my eyes went to were behavior grades. I wanted to ensure my guys were being respectful, cooperative, working well with others, listening, etc. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t endorse poor grades, it just wasn’t my primary focus.
I didn’t need my children to be straight-A students.
I was concerned with raising people.
I wanted them to be kind and respectful, happy and well-rounded.
And I wanted the teachers to be able to do their job not be distracted by disciplining my children.
My guys were typically A and B students. When they got the occasional C, I would help them or get them help from the teacher…