yesterday morning: another good morning for mr smear. please god this is becoming a thing 🤞
i've been reading more of hakim's odyssey, which is interesting timing considering what's going on in iran. it's been five days of uprising, and i can't help but hold my breath and pray that this is it.
the first big thing i took care of yesterday was applying for unemployment benefits. the overall experience was relatively pleasant, but no matter how good their site's UX may be in general, it's always difficult to understand exactly what they want when it comes to forms.
then i spent a little while upgrading the security of my personal AWS account, before diving in to completing the auth flows for my side project, which i'm excited to report was completed by the end of the day.
this was interrupted by the second big thing of the day: we received a message from mr smear's teacher at noon, informing us that mr smear had skipped another sculpture class. then another update later that he hadn't cooperated in bible class.
jesus, fuck.
gd and i had a pretty big fight over how we were going to handle it, although most of that was less about the topic at hand and more about how we fight when we do :/
we ended up with a strategy that seemed to make sense, and an agreement about the use of force (avoiding it, but not taking it off the table), and when mr smear's school ended i called him and told him to make his way home directly.
(poor kid, it was bucketing down)
after he came home and showered, we sat down for a family meeting. gd (for the most part) let me handle it, and after questioning him about the events of the day i asked him for solutions, and he came up with a contract, which he duly dated and signed, with a long list of things he needs to do. and then he and gd stuck that onto the front cover of his sketchbook (also his suggestion). then i explained to him the new reward/punishment system - both how bad things can go for him if he messes up, and how screen time will be allowed based on consistent / continuous good performance.
the rest of the afternoon/evening was smooth. dinner was great. and then, after reading another chapter of the ocean at the end of the lane to him at bedtime, i passed out on the couch. i struggled to get up and go to bed for the next four or five hours, then finally got some sleep (and disturbing dreams), and then woke up this morning feeling just as tired as when i'd passed out in the first place.
also, with a sensitive / threatening neck situation.
mr smear had a relatively good morning this morning, and i'm about to start getting things done.
[stops to help gd with kneading two challah-peños before posting]
