My mother picked up K early Saturday morning. The were on a quest. A quest to re-create the chocolate cake they saw on the cover of Bon Appetite magazine. This was a gorgeous, three layer spiced chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting between each layer, and a chocolate ganache/glaze over the whole thing... Can you say "let's add 20 lbs to my upper arms and my stomach right now"? K has always loved to help in the kitchen. The problem is that she is so excited to help when the project begins only to have her attention span drop to -20 within 10 minutes. In which case it becomes a battle of wills with the winner being the one who doesn't have to open a bottle of wine when the baking/cooking is over. Needless to say - K always wins!
But they did it. The re-created this cake minus the ribbons!. It was a little overcooked due to my mother's aging stove not being able to maintain a consistent temperature throughout the cooking process, but was edible and was good. Was RICH. Oh. My. God was it rich. I have a picture of the cake but Blogger won't let me add it right now. I'll figure that out later and if I remember I'll come back and add it.
L is still grounded. She's lucky M has her back with certain things. If it was up to me she'd still be grounded until the end of the month. It's just now dawning on me that I never shared this little bit of Adventures in Teenagers! I'll try to condense it as I have a tendency to go on and on; or so I've been told! :)
New Years Eve - L goes over to Becca's house in the late morning. She and Becca were hanging out during the day and then going to Zack's house for his New Years Party. (By the way, this is NOT the same Zac who used to be friends with L.) When L left the house I told her "text me when you're leaving Becca's and going to Zack's. I also want his address for when I have to pick you up." L's response "I know. I know." Fast forward to 8 pm. I realize I haven't heard from L. I text her, and I get no reply. This is a kid who starts twitching when her phone isn't in her hand so for her to not reply is odd.
(I can feel myself beginning to carry on. Condensed version, Erin. Condensed version!)
I texted her and called her numerous times between 8 and 8:45. I finally went to Becca's house only to find out they were taken over to Zack's at 5:30. Becca's mom took them over there but then went out and Becca's step-dad didn't know where this kid lived. Leaving Becca's house I text L with "Ur dead". Surprise surprise! She called me almost immediately! She tried to tell me that she and Becca were just dropped off. She dug her own grave with that one.
I was so angry with her my intention was to pick her up immediately, bring her home and beat her within an inch of her life, but I was going to a friend's house and did NOT want to deal with the attitude she'd give if I pulled her from her party and took her to my friend's. I told her to say her good-byes to her friends because this was the last night she'd be hanging out with them for a very long time. When I picked her up at 12:15 she and Becca came up with the following excuses as to why Becca should still be allowed to spend the night:
- There's no adult at her house - I knew this to be bullshit as I'd already talked to Jay, Becca's step-dad, and knew his only plans for New Years Eve was to play Mario Kart all night.
- Her parents were in a big fight and would be angry if she showed up unexpectedly - Sorry, but not my problem.
- She had no way in the house if no one was up - I already know she's got the keypad garage opener outside the garage, and from listening to her and L talking during previous conversations they don't lock the door from the house to the garage.
I informed L after dropping off Becca that the following were gone for one month: her phone, her TV, her computer access, any and all activities outside of school except for soccer. She's allowed to go to school then come home and go directly to her room not to emerge until dinner. Return to her room after dinner and not to emerge until morning and time to go to school. She can then repeat that schedule for the month of January. She was less than pleased. I also informed her that any attitude or negative comments I received during the duration of her punishment will result in additional time to serve.
This is where M comes in. He convinced me that my punishment was too severe. Not that I shouldn't punish her, or that I didn't have a reason to be angry, but that the length of the punishment was too long. I thought about it and decided to cut it in half. Except for her phone. That's gone for a month. After 2 weeks of her grounding I will re-evaluate her sentence and see if she needs additional time served.
Needless to say she's been an extremely pleasant child for the last 10 days. I intend to enjoy it while I can because as soon as she's back to her friends and such she'll return to the devil child I know. My anger at her stems more from the fact that what I requested of her was simple and it's the same thing every time she leaves the house. When you leave Point A to go to Point B I want to know about it. That's it. She can't seem to remember to do that, yet in 9 months I'm supposed to just be handing over keys to a 4,000 lb $25,000 vehicle without knowing where she is or where she's intending to go?! I think not.
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