...sums and mores...

Ah Sunday...this past week is FINALLY dead and buried.
Having spent a good part of it sick and hurting, I'm more than ready to move on and enjoy some health and well being, not to mention wealth (as if!).
With the school year well underway, the round-up of weekly meetings is also in full effect. I'm thrilled to report that the mister man's IEP meeting this Wednesday was a raging success despite my having a 102 degree temp and an even more raging headache. Seems the genius child is wowing people left and right...and has met more than 50% of the goals we set for him last year! Rock on! His teacher was most impressed with all the hard work we did this summer and spoke glowingly of all his advances and new skills. And since it's his second year in this classroom, he's so the big kid on the block...senioritis anyone??? :) Seriously though, he's doing phenomenally well and is really skill building.
Related and yet not, I recently noticed that of all the kids my son plays with...he is by far the best behaved. Crazy, huh? He's the only autistic one in his circle of friends....which would usually equal major behavioural issues. And instead, in public, he's the one with the least. We've worked so hard on how to behave appropriately in society....it's awesome to know that it has paid off so well. He's a gentleman in the company of thugs! His little playmates run roughshod all over the place...and here he is saying please and thank you, cleaning up after himself and being a helper. Awwwww.... So I'm taking a moment to pat myself on the back and congratulate myself on raising a child with strong FAMILY VALUES in a SINGLE PARENT FAMILY!!!! Hahaha....
Speaking of family....the in-laws side was here yesterday for the semi-annual visit. We do get along much better now, so (insert some long, drawn out, mature sounding bit of garble). But...I still know full well that there is a need to protect both the mister man and myself and it's sometimes quite awkward. I ended up 'giving in' on one thing that I wish now I hadn't...but it's to late now. And just for the record, I don't like this 'day-after' emotional stir-up that comes from them talking about my ex!!!
There was also a more than healthy dose of attemptive-guilt-tripping done over our intention to move out of Ohio. For real??? Are you freakin' serious? What, we're gonna stay here in culture-hell because you show up twice a year to spoil my kid with material things? Or because my mother-in-law will miss us even though we see her a marginally better 4 or 5 times a year? She wasn't even the one complaining! In fact, she has more than once told me that she supports our need to get a fresh start in a place that suits us better.
End rant!
Ok, truth be told I do feel a twinge of the badness for ranting about them at all. It's not their fault we any of us are in this situation...that blame lies squarely on ex's shoulders. But I just don't like the way they've chosen to deal with it. At some point in life you just have to take a moral standing and figure out what issues you support and which you don't. And if someone has abandoned his child, don't take his side in front of that child's mother. Or make it your personal crusade to do his dirty work for him.
Must. Stop. Now. Else I'll get grouchy all over again!