DLF Newsletter, vol. 2
DLF--Daughter's Liberation Front--is committed to providing weekly updates as this situation unfolds.
It's hard to believe a week has gone by since the last newsletter. Regardless, a week has gone by. There are a few things I want to cover before anything else, so sit tight.
No comments? Seriously? No one commented on the last newsletter, period. Not gerards_elli, not glowfaeriejosie, not anyone--not even the person who asked about these updates in the first place (you know who you are!). Did anyone even read the last one? Come on, let's all comment on it in some small way, even if it's just a simple "thanks" or "shut up". Anything is better than nothing.
That being said, let's move forward.
gerards_elli is starting to understand her role around my house. There are still some difficult areas, but we are definitely on the right track. Her consistency with doing her chores is improving, at least where the cat boxes are concerned. Laundry is still a difficult area for her, and now for all of us. Last week, she had a friend stay the night. Said friend left a jacket behind. gerards_elli decided to wash it without first checking the pockets. Needless to say, there was some sort of black makeup (someone comment with what exactly) in one of the pockets that came out and left spots on an entire load of our collective laundry. Today, she will be working on removing those stains.
To help with her chores, and to establish a system for paying her an allowance, we've incorporated the help of the almighty Google. Specifically, we're using their "Documents and Spreadsheets". I've created a spreadsheet that shows her basic daily chores and an extended list. There is also room to add additional items. When she finishes a chore, she goes into the spreadsheet and updates it with a timestamp. I can then check to see if she's done her chores from my desk at work. I can also add chores throughout the day, and she is expected to check the spreadsheet periodically for these adjustments. Wait until next week for an update on how that's going.
While we're on the subject of computers, it's necessary to mention some of the difficulties we're having with one in particular. It seems that gerards_elli has been abusing her rights to having a computer in her bedroom. Specifically, she's been staying on the computer until the early morning, sometimes past 3am. This is unacceptable. She has also been staying on the computer for most of the daytime hours, which is also unacceptable. We were forced to implement a system of control, much to my dismay. There is now software installed on her machine that forces a logout at 1am and will not allow a login again until 9am. My router also has a limiting profile that prevents access from her computer to the internet during those same hours. I'm still waiting for some data from glowfaeriejosie to determine how many daytime hours she's using it. If it's in excess of four hours, I'm going to have to limit that, too.
Please understand that this is not the course of action I wanted to take. It is extremely unfortunate that these measures are needed at all. Hopefully, in the long run, I can lift these controls and she can once again use the computer with total freedom.
On a different note, I was finally able to reach some advisers at Kaufmann. Much to our dismay, the sessions she will have to attend, starting next week, will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am-12pm. This means we will have to get up earlier than usual on those days. This also means that I will have to leave work to pick her up on those days. I have yet to determine whether or not I can just bring her back to the office or if I'm going to have to work at home the remainder of those days. Before anyone asks the obvious question, "Why can't glowfaeriejosie pick her up?", here's my answer: No. You see, the location for her session is almost perfectly in the middle of my route to work, and gas isn't exactly cheap right now. Our cars do not necessarily get the best gas mileage, and I just can't justify her making the back-and-forth trip twice a week. So, I will do it, as it is slightly closer for me. I hate Kaufmann.
Moving on now to karate...
If you've read last week's newsletter, then you know what the plan was supposed to be. That has changed. gerards_elli's mother has done it again. With subtle pressure, she's made sure that we'll have to do the karate thing this summer. I'm really not going to go into any detail, but I will say that after August, these types of things simply won't happen anymore.
Tomorrow is the 4th, which means fireworks. I suspect that her mother will try to spin her web around the holiday, stating that she should have her. That's a battle I'm going to fight, simply for the sake of winning. I need to gain back some ground, mostly for my own esteem.
Check back next week for more exciting updates!
It's hard to believe a week has gone by since the last newsletter. Regardless, a week has gone by. There are a few things I want to cover before anything else, so sit tight.
No comments? Seriously? No one commented on the last newsletter, period. Not gerards_elli, not glowfaeriejosie, not anyone--not even the person who asked about these updates in the first place (you know who you are!). Did anyone even read the last one? Come on, let's all comment on it in some small way, even if it's just a simple "thanks" or "shut up". Anything is better than nothing.
That being said, let's move forward.
gerards_elli is starting to understand her role around my house. There are still some difficult areas, but we are definitely on the right track. Her consistency with doing her chores is improving, at least where the cat boxes are concerned. Laundry is still a difficult area for her, and now for all of us. Last week, she had a friend stay the night. Said friend left a jacket behind. gerards_elli decided to wash it without first checking the pockets. Needless to say, there was some sort of black makeup (someone comment with what exactly) in one of the pockets that came out and left spots on an entire load of our collective laundry. Today, she will be working on removing those stains.
To help with her chores, and to establish a system for paying her an allowance, we've incorporated the help of the almighty Google. Specifically, we're using their "Documents and Spreadsheets". I've created a spreadsheet that shows her basic daily chores and an extended list. There is also room to add additional items. When she finishes a chore, she goes into the spreadsheet and updates it with a timestamp. I can then check to see if she's done her chores from my desk at work. I can also add chores throughout the day, and she is expected to check the spreadsheet periodically for these adjustments. Wait until next week for an update on how that's going.
While we're on the subject of computers, it's necessary to mention some of the difficulties we're having with one in particular. It seems that gerards_elli has been abusing her rights to having a computer in her bedroom. Specifically, she's been staying on the computer until the early morning, sometimes past 3am. This is unacceptable. She has also been staying on the computer for most of the daytime hours, which is also unacceptable. We were forced to implement a system of control, much to my dismay. There is now software installed on her machine that forces a logout at 1am and will not allow a login again until 9am. My router also has a limiting profile that prevents access from her computer to the internet during those same hours. I'm still waiting for some data from glowfaeriejosie to determine how many daytime hours she's using it. If it's in excess of four hours, I'm going to have to limit that, too.
Please understand that this is not the course of action I wanted to take. It is extremely unfortunate that these measures are needed at all. Hopefully, in the long run, I can lift these controls and she can once again use the computer with total freedom.
On a different note, I was finally able to reach some advisers at Kaufmann. Much to our dismay, the sessions she will have to attend, starting next week, will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am-12pm. This means we will have to get up earlier than usual on those days. This also means that I will have to leave work to pick her up on those days. I have yet to determine whether or not I can just bring her back to the office or if I'm going to have to work at home the remainder of those days. Before anyone asks the obvious question, "Why can't glowfaeriejosie pick her up?", here's my answer: No. You see, the location for her session is almost perfectly in the middle of my route to work, and gas isn't exactly cheap right now. Our cars do not necessarily get the best gas mileage, and I just can't justify her making the back-and-forth trip twice a week. So, I will do it, as it is slightly closer for me. I hate Kaufmann.
Moving on now to karate...
If you've read last week's newsletter, then you know what the plan was supposed to be. That has changed. gerards_elli's mother has done it again. With subtle pressure, she's made sure that we'll have to do the karate thing this summer. I'm really not going to go into any detail, but I will say that after August, these types of things simply won't happen anymore.
Tomorrow is the 4th, which means fireworks. I suspect that her mother will try to spin her web around the holiday, stating that she should have her. That's a battle I'm going to fight, simply for the sake of winning. I need to gain back some ground, mostly for my own esteem.
Check back next week for more exciting updates!