I'll Stand by You

After all these years, Merv and I just had out first major disagreement about parenting and marriage.

He's telling me about a problem with his youngest and how the boy hollered at his mother, Beth. So, I asked, how did you handle that, figuring I'd hear him say how he stood up for his wife, told his son that was inappropriate, a stern 'You will not speak to your Mother that way", something like that. Instead I hear, "I stayed out of it. It's between them. She's a big girl."

WHAT?!!!! Excuse me?! What about a united front? Backing each other up? Co-parenting? Isn't that the main reason you've been keeping it together all these years?

So, he starts giving me all these reasons why he can't draw boundaries with this (20-year-old) kid. If the boy has problems, he needs boundaries, limits, and clearly defined rules more than the average kid (yes, I get the irony of me saying that).

I am so disappointed in him. I want to go shake him, give Beth a hug, and give the boy a talking to that will have his ears ringing for a month.

Even Brick, who talks to me the way he does, has never allowed our kids to speak to me disrespectfully.