There's a Fine Line Between Fairytales and Nightmares...

... and thanks to Maleficent, we are being reminded of that. Again.
What's happening now?
What's happening is that Cinderella's friend narc'd on her after a DARE event at school. Concerned over the fact that C had been "scratching" herself, she sought help in the Guidance Office.
Cinderella was called in and promptly broke down into tears in front of her Guidance Counselor and Social Worker. She told them her tale of woe being a child of divorce.
There is nothing unique about her story.
Parents divorce. And oftentimes they don't handle it well, focusing on their own problems and losses (especially when mental illness plays such a major role).
Kids get caught in the middle. Blame themselves, grieve and try to keep the peace by internalizing EVERYTHING.
Sooner or later all of that stress has to come out.
It's starting to come out now in Cinderella and an observant friend took note.
She scratched her arm in frustration. It's no big deal now, but we know it could turn into something worse.
It's been three years since the Maleficent lost custody.
Three years since PrinceCharing was advised by the law guardian to violate the shit out of her when she crossed the line (which we ALL knew she would do).
And she has. Yet instead of adding fuel to her bipolar-fanned fires, we looked the other way and offered compromises.
Well, Cinderella's well-being is now compromised.
The Law Guardian has been called.
Maleficent has NOT been called. Yet.
We are trying to buy Cinderella a little bit of calm before the shit-storm. If her Mom gets tipped off, it will only spell doom for her and this kid has been through enough.
In the meantime, we're looking for a therapist for Cinderella all-the-while reassuring her that we will do our best to make things better and protect her from continued distress. (Which is a double-edged sword because she is worried that our attempts to make things better will make things worse. And that very-well may be the case.)
PrinceCharming is back to compiling details and facts, taking notes and saving EVERY email. Planning his next steps which will include filing paperwork and going back to court.

And I'm remembering to breathe through it all.

I See The Bad Moon Rising

A one hour phone call with Cinderella's school.

Concerns over her (reported) behavior by a worried friend.

Social Worker and Guidance Counselor called in.

She confirms. Cries in their office as she explains the stress of her parents' troubled relationship and her mother's subsequent (and contributory) behavior.

This is Maleficent's visitation weekend. PrinceCharming is FLOORED and en route to Cinderella's school to try and provide some reassurance before she heads off to god-knows-what this weekend.

He is torn between wanting to swoop in to protect his daughter from further pain while following the legal constraints of the custody agreement.

I don't know what will happen from here. But I see trouble on the way.

Ahh... to be 12 years old

This child's outfit is as busy as her mouth. :)

The Tween Walks Alone

This was Cinderella for a good majority of our vacation last week.
Moody. Pouty. Isolating herself from us.

Makes for a great picture, no?

Breaking Up Is(n't) Hard to Do

I had my first break up today.

"What do you mean?"*

S. told me she didn't want to be my BFF anymore. So I gave her back her phone number. She gave me back the friendship necklace I gave her.

It's ok though. We still talk to each other. We're still friends, we're just not BFFs.

***

*Yes, I was totally playing it cool because I totally thought she was talking about an ACTUAL break-up like with a BOY.

Middle school is so random.