There is hope

Mr 18 and Miss 14 rarely speak. When I say rarely I don't mean that in some random, oh they talk only 5 times a day sort of way. I mean sometimes, if we are lucky they speak once a week. Mr 18 takes her to school every day, but Miss 14 said he never says a word. The other day she slipped on ice in front of the car as she was getting in and banged her knee. This caused her heart to act up, so she was in tears on the way to school. I asked her how that went and she said "he patted my shoulder, said it would be ok, and let me sit in the car until my heart calmed down. It was the nicest thing he's ever done for me!" What a sad reflection on their relationship.

Recently (knock on wood) Hubby and I have noticed a few steps in a more positive direction. Sometimes at supper when Miss 14 says something humorous about her day, Mr 18 actually cracks a smile. He doesn't call her "Newb" as often, and he doesn't tell her to "shut up stupid" (No, I don't tolerate that... he gets chewed out, etc. It just didn't change anything) He asks questions to her once in a while. But the biggest step of all came the other night when we saw caught them playing Wii together. Granted they were trying to whip each other in all the new games on Mario and Sonic's Olympic Games. It made for some really intense battles, with Miss 14 putting on shorts and a t-shirt and Mr 18 taking off socks and sweatshirts, but it was nice to see them in the same room~not fighting.

I hope as Mr 18 leaves for college next year this relationship will improve. I'm hoping that in some way they'll stay in touch, and even keep secrets from me. Even if it's only short computer notes on their myspace pages, or quick texts on their phones. (That's if we EVER get Miss 14 a phone, because she is the only person in her entire high school who doesn't have a cell phone, it's so embarrassing!! Eye roll, eye roll, heavy sigh!)