So the first joint therapy session went off better than I expected. Felt like everyone was heard and the therapist validated that our fear of BM trying to take the girls was a rational fear. BM admitted that she's a helicopter parent, and part of her problem with us is that we're not. Therapist told her "Welcome to divorce. You no longer get to make those kind of decisions while the girls are with their father."

I did a massive internal happy dance.

One thing that the therapist wanted us to do before our next session, which is Friday, was to meet for lunch without the kids. *shudder* She pointed out that it would be massively uncomfortable and that BM's boyfriend and I would likely be the only ones to talk. So, noon today, we're going to Tin Star to meet them. Words cannot describe how little I want to do this. There's always a buffer when we see them. The kids, the therapist, whatever. This though... man, I don't wanna go.

But in the interim, the insanity has been pretty much par for the course passive aggressive bs. Grandma's dog ate one of the SD's shoes, so Grandma bought both kids brand new shoes to replace the ragged out ones they had been wearing. BM throws new shoes away, and replaces them with "better" shoes, designer ones purchased by her father. SD's are 6 and 4. While I *kind of* understand the "omg, must have designer stuff" attitude, (I remember REALLY wanting a Starter jacket in grade-school, and Mossimo stuff in Jr. High) I don't understand buying $50 shoes for a kid who's going to out-grow them in under a year. I also don't understand throwing away two perfectly good pairs of shoes, brand new, because they're from Payless. Or because they're from Grandma.

Also, I picked up some really cool pink and white teeny skull print laces from the dollar store for SD6. Her initial reaction was "COOL!" and then she remembered. Her face falls, and she tells me "My Mom says that skulls are really inappropriate for girls." I hugged her and said, "Well, if they weren't appropriate for girls, why would they make them in pink?"

*sigh*