Today, Asshole called me at work. He started out all nicey nice - making pleasant conversation about the child. And, as usual, I can't remember the exact moment when everything turned ugly, but it did - fast.

He started hollering at me about her political views, and the necessity for her to be polite when in the company of his family - the usual bullshit. He told me that he believed I was raising her badly - owing to her views, and my "pro-lesbian" attitude. (To that, I say YAY!), but I digress...

After he called me "my dear" in that condescending voice of his, I realized I was in fact, at work and couldn't unleash all my venom on him - so I hung up the phone while he was still blathering on. He didn't call back.

At lunch, I spoke with the kidlet, who was home on a school holiday. I told her she needed to pretend with her dad. That apparently, it was important to him that she hear his views and that she voice her approval of them. Now, I didn't raise my kid to be a fake or a liar, but to put an end to the bullshit, I advised her to be a fake and a liar. She staunchly refused. Uh-boy...

She called her father, and told him that she felt betrayed because he had told her she was his number one person, but he had chosen the feelings of his father and his wife over hers - again. She told him that her views were different than his, but she would respect his views - even though she would prefer not to talk politics with him. He informed her that she was 15 years old, and that no 15 year old girl was entitled to have an opinion.

This is when he interjected that he had spoken to her psychiatrist. And said psychiatrist had informed him that she did NOT have OCD, nor was she depressed. He said she was basically doing all this to herself, and that I was doing her a disservice, because I was trying to be her friend, and not her mother... He began screaming at her and wouldn't let her speak. When she asked him not to interrupt - he screamed that he could interrupt her any time he wanted to because HE WAS THE FATHER!! She disagreed with him - loudly - so he hung up on her.

When she called me, she was sobbing hysterically. She was hurt that her father had behaved so horribly - and she was very confused and bewildered that her psychiatrist had "turned on" her.

Of course, I phoned the psychiatrist right away, because I started feeling crazy - Did she not tell me it was "severe" OCD? Did she not refer me to the OCD center at UCLA? Why? For entertainment purposes?

I left her a message to call me after 5 at home. When I got there, she'd already spoken to the kidlet. Kidlet felt better. Of course, she's got OCD and of course she's depressed.

The doctor phoned me back, and we both said "I'm so sorry" at the same time. She told me that she was "completely unprepared" for what had happened on the phone with asshole. She said that with adolescents, you don't want to put them in a "box" diagnostically speaking. They could get other stuff, or they could outgrow stuff. She said, with the kidlet's symptoms, she feels comfortable with the idea of OCD, but didn't want to stamp the kidlet's forehead with the diagnosis. She said he needed it to be an exercise in semantics. Was it? or Not? Black or White (typical facsist ideology). She was most concerned with asshole's reaction to this, as apparently, he's brought up the political stuff - Hello??? and asked me if he had any legal claims to kidlet. He's got joint legal custody with me, but I have sole physical custody. I think he's too stupid to look into anything wacky or legal - plus, he's unemployed and broke - plus very, very cheap. But I'll keep my eyes and ears open.

Anyway, the doctor said she would try and contact him again tonight, to make her diagnosis a bit clearer. I told her she'd need to draw him a picture, and even then, he'd doubt her. Poor lady. Poor kidlet. Poor me!

February 24, 2003

Be Afraid, People.... Really Afraid
September 01, 2008

One Last Bitchfest for the Road
August 24, 2008

Get the Popcorn Ready
July 17, 2008

I'm a Rich Ho-Bag
June 20, 2008