Destiny Skywalker

I want to say Q was about 6 when we went on a short road trip and she asked to hear a certain song (Blue by Eiffel 65 lol). And we said hey sorry kid we don't have that CD (I want to say maybe Pandora wasn't working out in the middle of nowhere) and she asked what a CD was and my husband and I both expired right then and there.

This is something I found cleaning out our office earlier this month. I offered it on Buy Nothing, no takers.

I also found this second bit of awesomeness. Q was dying.

I've heard a lot of people complaining locally about the Apple weather app the last few days. IPhone by any chance?

2nd snow day in a row here. The roads are just super icy, really. I think it's warmed up to rain, finally, but not by much.

Is your 2020 paid off? What are they going to give you for trade in?

I would be wary.

11 hours ago, Darth Krawlie said:

Yeah I wish they had cancelled school BEFORE I went to work

Stop going to work so damn early. 

Can I rank stupid TikTok crazes? What is this water bottle shit that middle school girls are obsessed with? First it was Hydroflask, then Yeti, and now Stanley. It's a freaking WATER BOTTLE. I have no idea how your cup makes you cool.

Schools are closed here today because the roads are icy. We attempted a late start and then they called it completely. Every district in the area called it except our old district (and we live like a mile from that boundary). I was so excited about no soccer practice because they use school fields. But they managed to find a lighted non-school field in a neighboring school district. It's snowing right now, so I don't think we are going anyway. Soccer in the Pacific Northwest is so dumb. This is not a winter sport.

Also really glad we did not get that F150 Lightning lol.

I would be at least willing to listen to Nikki Haley. Trump and DeSantis are hard nos for me. Santorum and Paul need to give it up already. 

There are a lot of younger Democrats I'd be willing to listen to: Harris, Buttigieg, Klobuchar. I'd like to see who else is waiting in the wings. I mostly keep up with local politics so I'm not sure what other state governors, senators, representatives are like. But I'm absolutely Anybody But Trump. I do wish Biden had kept his promise to only run for 1 term. I think he thought he was setting Harris up and decided she wasn't electable. I do feel bad that his administration inherited a shit sandwich, but I think it's time to pass the torch.

Thank you, I really appreciate that offer. The principal had promised me a plan by Friday morning, and it's now Tuesday night and I haven't heard boo. She hopes I'm too busy to care.

We have a hearing scheduled for Friday to appeal the bullying decision. I'm not sure how productive it will be but I feel like I have to at least try. We are going to focus on how it is disruptive and causing Q to have difficulty accessing her education, as well as reporting the retaliation and false accusations. I am probably going to let my husband do the majority of the talking. He is my bad cop and very good at picking up on inconsistencies. I tend to be an optimist and assume good intentions.

We did check out one last private school today. We left feeling good, Q is just very nervous about leaving her great teacher for unknowns. They had zero issues with her 504 plan, unlike the other private school who was willing to let her fail first and then intervene once that happens (which I'm not sure is entirely legal). Her therapist, who is usually a big advocate for choices and collaborative problem solving, agrees that Q's school is not a safe environment, especially with the retaliation we just saw. We need to move her in the next few weeks.

We also met the STEM program teacher. She is a great fit for Q and loved Q's passion for STEM. I'm admittedly nervous about this choice because I don't know how flexible my work from home situation will be for the next 2.5 years. There is a lot of Saber rattling about needing us in the office again. I'm also not sure Q is really able to work independently 50% of the time. They really want her to put in the time, especially if the work is too easy. Then they want her to push more. Great in theory, but I'm not sure if she's THAT self motivated. I can't see her doing 6 hours a day on those 2 at home days. That's a lot to ask of a 6th grader, even one who finds school easy. We also have our upcoming remodel that is going to tear the house apart for 2-3 months. I'm not sure even I want to work from home during that.

Update: 6 runs total and then Q couldn't feel her fingers and toes. I think my boots are packed out, my shin has been pissed both times we've gone.

Q and I are back at it. Took 30minutes just to find parking. It's like 8F. Went down out usual black and it's a hot mess. Even I fell. Then skiing on a green section I tried to hockey stop and instead face planted, hit my head and chest. Q said I dropped something, it was some piece of foam so I think I may have hit it and that made me fall. Ow. We sticking to blues today. We lasted an hour before coming into the lodge. Snow is packed so hard it squeaks.

I love dogs but yes. But I can also find a pet sitter easier than a kid babysitter. So there's that.

We don't take ours a lot of places. When we go on walks I try to avoid people because she's a 90 lb toddler. She hates car rides. But if it's a long weekend and we are driving we try to take her with. She hates the drive but she's happy to be with us. And we pick up her poop.

It's really fricking cold for Washington right now. It's like 11F here? The dog loves it. I keep saying I bought a golden retriever, not a husky, and I would like a refund. Some people have been posting about cold kitties. If you have access to straw and a Styrofoam cooler, apparently that is a good place for them to warm up. At the very least, I bet the possum would take you up on it.

We were going to go skiing today, but decided to wait for tomorrow because it was -2F this afternoon with wind chill of -24F, and it's supposed to warm up to like, 15F tomorrow.

Exactly.

Some slight good news, principal couldn't get the same story out of witnesses. So Q is off the hook. Appeal submitted with news of false reporting and retaliation.

Trees do take up a lot of space. Might make life less crazy next year. And lights are the best part of the tree. If we ever move back to Florida I'm decorating the palm trees with lights.

It was the 2 girls who confronted her who made the report of a threat. Of course, it turns out they approached Q and another student and started telling them both that they need "mental help". Q still denies she made a threat. She knows better.

I can't even, guys. I think the principal is regretting letting those 2 off the hook. She said she is trying to think of a separation plan that can't be weaponized against Q like the previous one was. We will be escalating to the superintendent. I think it may be time to get lawyers involved.

Well, believe it or not, I got through the gauntlet and now I get the joy of actually applying to this program. All of that stress was just the part about letting me apply!

It's going to have to work out. The school let us know "someone" has filed a report that Q made threats to harm them. I can't even. The retaliation has already started. I've already filled out withdrawal forms and am just waiting to send them.

We have something like that as well. I need to figure out new color theme for January. Blue? Purple? Maybe both?

I miss Christmas lights and trees. Not that I have room for that damn tree year round. Really I just like lights lol

I mean, yes, bullying usually gets better when adults intervene. But they have to intervene consistently. One of the girls finally got her feet held to the fire and so she knocked it off for awhile. But in the documentation it shows that administration intervenes, the girls stop for awhile, and then they start testing boundaries again.

I am pretty sure this has more to do with avoiding having a bullying report on their statistics than actually protecting her.

I have 5 days to appeal. You bet I will.

Also found out just now that the STEM program has an opening. So I need to scramble for that.

Well, it doesn't matter, because the principal called me to let me know they determined it was not bullying or Harassment. They said it did not meet the definition because Quinn did say it got better once adults intervened. No shit.

I'm done. She's definitely going back to private school.

Alright, I have a restorative justice question. One of the girls approached Q on Friday and said that she was sorry for how she had behaved and didn't realize how it was affecting Q. She said can we be friends again? Q was very uncomfortable and a classmate interrupted them with a joke so she didn't have to answer. I have a feeling they are going to find that the girls were indeed bullying, but they are going to have them do some sort of meeting where they apologize and hope everything goes back to sunshine and rainbows. However, Q's trust is completely broken. She isn't ready to be friends. I don't want her to be put into a situation where she has to listen to a bunch of potentially fake apologies and be forced to accept them. Because that puts the pressure on her to be the bigger person, when really all she wants is for the behavior to stop. We talked about forgiveness and how we don't have to grant it just because someone asks for it, and forgiveness is often not immediate and takes time and a history of changed behavior. I especially don't want her to be shamed for saying no I need time, because I think honesty is important and these girls should also learn that forgiveness is not automatic, nor should it be expected of the victim. (Bonus thought, because undiagnosed ADHD: I believe our culture expects and pushes for forgiveness because it allows people to not be accountable for our poor behavior. It's essentially a get out of jail free card that places more pressure on the victim than on the aggressor. And I do truly believe there are some offenses that cannot be forgiven: murder, rape, abuse, infidelity, etc. I think there's a difference between true forgiveness and letting go of your trauma so that it doesn't affect you as much. And that does not mean welcoming the person who wronged you into your life and acting like nothing happened.)

Should I reach out to the principal preemptively to tell them not to put her into a situation where there is pressure on her to forgive them? I think I would also like to ask the principal to warn us if there is going to be any sort of meeting so I can help Q prepare for it instead of being taken by surprise.

Remember the bully soccer coach that drove Q off her long-time team? The club asked her to resign. Karma finally gets her.