Freedom!

I've been doing this for 5 years & I JUST YESTERDAY finally removed her completely. When Matt & I first got together, he was only 21 & Monster was only 6 mos. old. HRC had never let him be a parent (except when SHE wanted to do something), so he had no clue what he was doing. She also THOUGHT she had his (excuse the expression) "balls in a sling." She would hold Monster over his head EVERY time he breathed wrong.

Anyone who knows my background with kids knows that I just naturally fell into the role of "mom." I couldn't ever dream of doing to him what she was, so I made SURE that he saw his daughter when he was supposed to & as soon as we had enough amo, went to court & won!

I have been SO emotionally & physically invested, but have realized that he is now 27, we have a 3 1/2 yr old child together & one on the way, and he is a police officer. If he doesn't know how to be a parent & deal with her crazyiness by now, we're in trouble, LOL.

So, he & I talked about our situation. He's always done most of the "work" with her, but I've made sure to block her (and all the other crazies on her end) emails completely. We decided that I only need to check the Yahoo! group messages if he is unavailable & something is time sensitive. She lives 3 hours away & it isn't like we'll run into each other every day or anything like that, so I hope I've pretty much removed her from my "inner sanctum" & can deal with her through Matt from now on. The only thing he & I have to talk about concerning her is Monster & that will be limited because our order is crystal clear!

Monster is seeing her counselor today (THANK GOD for that woman). I really think she would be an emotional wreck without her. We'll be setting up an appointment for just us to talk about how to make the best of the situation we now have, as bad as it may seem I know there HAS to be a way to make it work.

On another note, it was so great to have Monster LITERALLY run into my arms when we picked her up yesterday & hug me so tight! She almost knocked me over. Its THOSE moments that make it all worthwhile. All the other craziness melts away & I remember I don't care how crazy her mother gets, what stunts she tries to pull, or even about the empty threats she makes. This is all what we make it & I plan on having a GREAT life! Anyone want to join me? LOL

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!