SD is now “refusing” to go to school
Because heaven forbid we just have a bit of peace!
Last week SD15 told DH she doesn't want to go to school. We live in a small town- besides an expensive religious school, it's the only option. DH tells her that. He said next year, when she's a Junior, she will have her license and can drive to the next town's school if she really wants to. Sat. Night DH and I were camping and I got woken up at 3:30am by SD texting DH once again (she made the text go through despite him having his phone on DND) asking him to not go to this school. I was not amused.
She came to our house tonight immediately asking about it again- she wants to do charter school, which is basically the online version of her school. Because "her school sucks and the teachers don't know how to teach and the people suck". But also, even the high school in the next town over sucks. FFS. She always wants to blame everyone else. The main issue, is that SD has burned through every friend group in the school. She had many friends and now she has none. She has started 2 new schools, made friends, and lost them all. It's not all her fault, but she played a huge part. Despite the fact that we have seen the texts and she has told us the things she has said to them- which was always SD being extremely aggressive to her friends whenever there was any conflict, we do feel for her. It sucks not to have friends. But SD is NOT the type of kid who will do well in a home school environment. She's not self-motivated, needs extra help most times, wants to stay up all night and has a hard schedule this year. Plus being in her room all day is not good for her mental health. Also, I WFH- the HELL if I'm going to be home with SD every single day on our weeks. NO. Crazy also WFH many days and them spending that much more time together is a really bad idea.
So DH told her no, for all the reasons listed. SD cried and said she was NOT going back to that school and would not be going through the doors and we couldn't make her. We were like, well actually it's the law, so... This went on for a while and she really thought she could just demand and get her way so I finally snapped a bit and said, SD, I am here all day working and I am not going to be responsible for you every day. Even after that she said she was doing charter school and not going to school. Sorry little girl, no you're not. DH eventually ended the conversation because she just kept saying she wasn't going to that school and he couldn't make her, and he was saying she would be going and he was done talking about it. She also had snot all over her nose and face and he kept asking her to please go wipe her nose and she kept refusing. He's like, you are 15 and won't even blow your nose, and you want me to trust you to do homeschooling??
As she was walking upstairs she said "you're just saying no because you don't even want me here". I said, well that's not true. She said "yes, you even said you didn't want to watch me". *eyeroll*. Way to twist things SD. I don't even care. She thinks she can bully her way into getting her way. I am sure she hates it there, but she can't just demand to do home schooling and we have to say yes. Its insane and entitled that she even thinks so. I hated school too, and so do TONS of other kids. But you don't just get to refuse to go and think you will get your way.
TBH I'm not sure how it works if a kid does refuse to go, but I'm pretty sure if you call the police they will come and escort the kid to school because otherwise they are truant. I'm wondering if DH should call the school counselor to try and set up a meeting to discuss this.
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A meeting with the school
A meeting with the school counsellor is a great idea. You don't want to have to deal with this,alone. Besides, they have probably seen this before and might have resources and pointers you could use.
I actually called the school myself
I actually called the school myself since DH is busy at work and we are running out of time and I do NOT want this to come down to a last-minute thing where it's the first day of school (next Tue) and SD is still refusing and somehow we can't make her go and I'M STUCK with her here. The school counselor was fantastic, he knows who SD is even though he wasn't her counselor last year...I'm sure she is notorious there since she spent half of last year in the previous school counselor's office due to issues with the girls at school and all of the other various crap she was tangled up in.
He suggested bringing SD in this week before school starts to meet with him and the new female school counselor to get comfortable with them and see who she connects with more, and so they can make her feel more comfortable about starting school. They said they would keep an eye on her and search her out to check on her after school starts. DH is taking her in tomorrow afternoon.
Talking to the school
Talking to the school councillor is a good idea. It might also be worth sending your sd's therapist a message letting them know what is going on and asking for advice as how to help your sd feel comfortable going to school.
Good idea
Thursday is the first appt. with SD's new therapist, so DH will be going also for part of the appt. He will let her know what's going on with school. It's too bad it's the first appt. with this therapist so I'm not sure how much will really be resolved before school starts on Tue...
My YSD pushed to do her final
My YSD pushed to do her final year of HS remote.. she claimed she only needed 2 classes and would graduate early. She was a good student, her grandparents said she could live with them and do it. (mom would allow her to move to the rural grandparents home.. and her dad was working offshore so it was the only real option.) I had to be her online reviewer. Well.. turns out it was more like 4 classes.. we had to pay out of pocket and it was pulling teeth to get stuff done and she spent the majority of her time on snapchat as far as we can tell. It also really didn't happen "early".. but ultimately she did graduate.
Unless you have a highly motivated kid, remote doesn't work well and even when they are.. it can still be a struggle to get them to keep up with the work.
I am guessing there were more interpersonal things going on.. that it's more the social aspect that she wants to avoid.
100%
SD is NOT an online student. DH almost got her a tutor last year when she was IN school and had in-person help!
Definitely interpersonal as she has deemed the teachers incompetent and can't seem to get along with others. But shutting herself away in her room is not going to be good for her- she actually is a very sociable person and craves that interaction and having friends. This would not go well for her.
The on-line school thing is
The on-line school thing is tough. It takes a certain type of person to do it and I'm not sure your SD is that kind of person. If she had drive, maybe but she has no drive. If she'd been home schooled or on-line schooled for years, maybe but she had\sn't. If her parents/Stepparents were all on the same page, maybe but her parents aren't even in the same library let alone the same page or book.
I'd give the school a call. What's there to lose?
Absolutely. And of course
Absolutely. And of course Crazy has told her she's ok with virtual learning. Probably because she knows DH would never allow it. So now she looks like a hero and we are the bad guys.
DH is taking her to meet with the school counselors tomorrow- I set it up. Hoping it works, but she sure as hell isn't staying home.
if her mom thinks she can do
if her mom thinks she can do it suggest she live with her mom and mom takes custody in full.
SD staying home doing
SD staying home doing "virtual school" for grades 10, 11, 12 while you work from home? Hard nope! You're going to have to have a plan in place to ensure this doesn't happen.
Just a couple things... What happened with DHs emergency order to switch custody to crazy?
Is there still an option to send SD to a facility for troubled teens/mental health program after she tried to get your husband arrested by calling the police and everything else? And now she refuses to go to school?
My SS who is almost 19 now.. I believe he did virtual school for a while also while he lived at his moms house... Same reason... All the schools suck and he doesn't get along with anyone... In the end he finished high school at a college and obtained a GED for high school equivalency...
Anyhow your SD is certainly testing the boundaries and limits here... Whatever route you end up going if it was myself I would tell my husband I didn't care what happens but my hard boundary is that SD is not allowed to be doing virtual school at our house while I was working from home so he needs to find a solution..
Hard No
On no planet, in no universe, will SD be staying home with me doing virtual school. This is my hill to die on. I don't think DH would allow this, he knows my feelings on it and how much SD's issues and SS's BS have affected my mental health. Things have been difficult between DH and I due to skids anyway, and we are finally just getting some reprieve from that now that SS is at college and SD has shown signs of normalcy, so letting SD stay home is just putting all of that back on me and he knows it will be a strain on me and our marriage and I will not allow it.
DH changed his mind about the emergency custody order giving Crazy custody once he saw a glimmer of hope for SD (we had found a 4hr/day intesive therapy program for SD. Which she went to for 1 week and then refused to go to). Then she started being decent and we saw glimpses of the old, human SD, and not the demon she has become, so DH threw out the Idea all-together. Plus he got VERY nervous about the realities of him pay FT child support. We had found an inpatient program that we were very sure she could go to, but they denied her at the last minute due to her health condition. What's ironic is when I googled what to do when your teen refuses to go to school, the same inpatient place I just mentioned where she got denied came up with the first good answer...... there aren't many other good places in-state that may be reasonably priced and accept DH's ins. We have done research. This is probably the only one SD would have agreed to go to anyway, since it had fun activities she was excited for. The other ones are just your basic boring inpatient programs- she would not agree to those. It kind of feels hopeless. We are hoping her new therapist (and the equine therapy that they offer) will help.
I might be tempted to say
I might be tempted to say "Damn right I don't want to watch you all day, look how you act!" Wasn't she the one who was supposed to be in an intensive outpatient mental health program? Whoever decided she didn't need it couldn't have been more wrong. She won't graduate if she has to be responsible for herself for 3 years. Stand your ground on this one. If she stops going to school, do not allow her to sit in your house all day.
She will NOT be sitting in my
She will NOT be sitting in my house all day. If DH wants to stay married, this will not happen. I know my limits and this is one I cannot handle.
And yes, she was absolutely supposed to go to an intensive outpatient program- she went for a week and then refused to go. Literally refused to come out of Crazy's house to go to the therapy when DH went to pick her up. Then we found an inpatient program for her that was out of state but miraculously took DH's ins. It was 4-8wks and had cool activities but was strictly for mental health, plus they did school. We were just trying to schedule a time to take her, when the place contacted us to tell us their medical team denied SD due to her medical condition. Even SD was disappointed. It's like we can't freaking win.
When dealing with people who
When dealing with people who are manipulative, I have found it's best to name what they are doing.
So, when SD says, "It's just because you don't want me here."
I would say, "That's really manipulative. You're trying to make us feel guilty for not giving you your way. You know we want you here. What we don't want it is the constant battles from trying to hold you accountable for homeschooling."
Call it out every single time.
Love it!
Using this! She is absolutely manipulative!
As long as you are not involved
As having you have her at your house as she does online schooling. She with BM. I Would disengage from all of this nonsense . SD is running the show, you have no say in any of this .except not be part of it. SD isn't going to do well no matter where she goes . The school will want to get her out.
Bigger question is what happens after school.? If she can't deal with school, She can't deal with work. ? Where is she going to stay ? What is she going to do :
Teens are innately social.
Teens are innately social. The fact that she has no friends at all and wants to completely isolate herself is alarming. I'd definitely start with talking to the school counselor to find out how to proceed if she actually refuses to go to school - I can't imagine that they'd recommend physically forcing her to attend, though I have no idea what the alternative would be.
But after that, her medication situation may need to be addressed. If she's taking antidepressants or a mood stabilizer, an adjustment may be in order because her mood and behavior sounds like it continues to be pretty erratic.
Independent Study
Sd18 Princess Powersulk did that and was on the brink of failing because not doing the work. Honestly you have to really try to fail the online school. The very fact that these kids think they can force the adults into putting up with their BS is beyond me, but Im seeing it play out before me.
Great God Almighty!
Great God Almighty!
I cannot believe what I’m reading. So, things have come to the point where children are so outrageously pandered to that they can refuse to attend school and folks actually look for alternatives, rather than suggest that parents behave like parents and fall down laughing at the demands of a manipulative brat. I would love to have ruled the roost when I was a kid but, thankfully, the very notion was unthinkable.
TrueNorth (you poor girl!), your SD behaves like a toddler whose parents have always given in to her tantrums rather than exercise some reasonable boundaries. Your DH’s virtual toddler (who refuses to blow her nose; more ‘pity me’ manoeuvring) has enjoyed total power for so long that no ridiculous demand is beyond her grasp.
So, the little brat accuses you of not wanting her around? I’d answer with, “Damn straight! I refuse to be responsible for an unstable teenager who makes unfounded accusations!” FFSake, stop pussyfooting around this master manipulator! Who are the adults here?
I would have said Damn
I would have said Damn straight to that kid too. I think some hard boundaries are needed with this kid as she is certainly testing. If ever there was a time to put a foot down about something and follow through.
Also, if OP said "Of course
Also, if OP said "Of course we want you here!", SD would know she is lying, further decreasing her respect for her. Maybe something like "we are committed to doing what's best for you" would ring more true. SD is doing her best to make it so OP and her husband don't want her around because she thinks her mom's is the place for her. But it sounds like BM doesn't want her all the time, either, because of the behaviors she encouraged. If you teach a kid to disrespect one parent, they now have the skills to do the same to you.
The first time this girl was
The first time this girl was ever told "no" was probably years too late. Intensive outpatient therapy - she refuses to go and she doesn't have to go. Why wouldn't she think it will work for school, too?
Outpatient therapy
This is exactly it- Refusing to go to Outpatient therapy worked- and really, DH didn't have a choice, he couldn't drag her there. It's voluntary, you can't force them to go. He actually tried to tell her she had to go and she refused to come out of Crazy's house and get in the vehicle. He wouldn't let her drive for weeks until she agreed to do a different type of therapy. So now she is emboldened by refusing that therapy, thinking she can do the same with school. This is different, and I "think" we have more options if she continues to refuse...maybe...although I don't exactly know what they are and none of them would be easy.
It's extremely frustrating because DH has been trying to parent and Crazy has done ZERO parenting, and here we are, with a defiant teen who thinks she can get her way by refusing to do things because it always works with her mom, and now with a voluntary outpatient program.
She is unbelievable
I will say, while DH coddles SS and doesn't like to tell him no because he's the golden child, (although he will then just yell at him when he does things he doesn't like, rather than just hold to set boundaries), he has zero issue telling SD no, and he can be quite intimidating about it. Last night he told SD in no uncertain terms that there was not a chance in hell she was doing virtual. He listed his reasons, it got a bit heated, and he finally ended the conversation because this little brat continued to argue and think that she could just tell him/us that she was doing it anyway and we couldn't MAKE her go. She has never once been told No by Crazy- she has told me multiple times that she can get her mom to say yes to anything, and if she ever does say no she just goes to her mom's BF and gets him to say yes. Crazy has said yes to virtual school. So SD thinks all she has to do is bully us into it like she does her mom or refuse to go, and we will have to say yes also. Except apparently she has forgotten who I am, and thinks she can bully DH into it. I am NOT a pushover, and DH isn't going to give into this, unless he wants to lose a wife.
NOT. A. CHANCE.
The first thing your SO needs
The first thing your SO needs to do is talk to her school about what happens if a child refuses to go to school. What are his rights and obligations as a parent. He should relay that remote school is not an option for his daughter.. and that she is (I think) in counseling, but that this recent refusal is new and he does not know what will happen if she does in fact refuse to go through the doors.
She is a teen.. he can't wrestle her into the car.. he can't sit in class and force her to stay.
Has he looked into any kind of boarding school options for her? maybe she would benefit from those.. though I know they come at a cost.
perhaps telling her that
perhaps telling her that remote learning is off the table.. but get a bunch of brochures for military schools and the like and leave them around.. saying he is looking into those options.. as an alternative.. maybe she will find that her school is NOT , in fact , her worst option.
I would but she would call our bluff
SD knows she can't go to military school, because of her medical condition- it's why she got rejected from the inpatient program we planned on sending her to a few weeks ago. We were ready to take her there and then bam- no dice. It's a pretty severe condition (that is under control), but eliminates her from anything with physical requirements.
He definitely has told her in no uncertain terms that remote learning is NOT an option. No, nope, not a chance. When she still argued I reinforced it, just in case she thought there was a chance I had her back. I'm the one home all day, and you are not staying here with me. It may seem like DH is soft, but he really is only soft with SS- He came at SD pretty hard with this. And despite all that, she still has the nerve to argue and state she is not going, because Crazy told her she is ok with it, and she thinks there is nothing we can do to make her go. It is absolutely infuriating, the attitude that if you just tell your parents you aren't doing it, you will get your way.
Truancy is a real thing, so she must go to school or the parent can be held accountable for it, so you can call the police to take them. Although that's definitely not really a path we would want to go down. I'm reallly hoping meeting with the school counselors tomorrow helps with this.
I kinda understand from the
I kinda understand from the kid perspective if school is a crappy environment and nothing can be done to change it except leave / go to another school or home school
Problem is some of these skids / kids behavior is so atrocious that they're unbearable to be around for extended periods of time especially without high levels of structure and when you're working from home you cannot provide that structure as well as someone who doesn't have the responsibility of an employer
I would have been highly triggered if my ex partner / former skids expected me to take care of them/home school them AND work a 9-5
These Disney parents better be compensating for this overtime work they're expecting helping to raise their spawns
otherwise go homeschool and lock in with the breeder ....
NO and no!!!!
Could you imagine this kid
Could you imagine this kid doing online school at home.. Making lunch messes... Probably laying around doing nothing most of the day... Ugggh. I feel for you TrueNorth
When virtual school was a thing for the kids during covid most of these kids did one hour at most of school per day. My step kids did nothing.
The other thing to consider is that college and universities may penalize you in some way for doing virtual school versus in class. Some colleges may not take the virtual class credits at the same value as the in person courses (assuming if SD wanted to go to college after high school)?
NO!
I can't imagine it! I die a little inside every time I think of it! And honestly she mostly stays in her room and doesn't even make noise, but the thought of someone in my space every freaking day, no privacy....even if it was DH here every day, I am not the type of person that can handle that. I NEED alone time. Plus she would not do well in school or socially and would absolutely become more depressed. It would impact MY mental health.
I find that i need a lot more
I find that i need a lot more alone time when dealing with insufferable a-holes than when dealing with pleasant people. I think maybe your SD's medical condition has caused people to tiptoe around her. My SO's oldest had a severe health problem as a baby and was coddled. She's pushing 30, no education, in and out of intensive outpatient therapies for undisclosed mental issues, and regularly asking Dad for money for food, rent, and gas. Her behavior on vacation was an atrocity (exposing her private areas, crawling around in the garden of a restaurant while waiting for a table, crazy sh!t). There's something about health problems plus divorce that creates an extreme toxic situation.
the thought of someone in my
THIS!
My ex Disneyland partner used to try to con me into having his breeder drop one or both of his kids off while he was at work and if she needed a break
My mind was like "f*ck no!"
But the main reason my mind went there was because like you, I do not want my partner nor his kids lingering around in my space 24/7
Disneyland dad was like "oh my kids are so well behaved and they're quiet as a church mouse"
Um like hell they are,,, those kids were clingy, needy, loud, messy, traipsing all around my house with no boundaries and just overal disturbing my peace by being there more than the allotted amount of time in their verbal parenting agreement
Disney dad was still paying the same amount of child support while his parenting time was increasing
Money flying out the window to the breeders household AND I gotta host her kids during HER parenting time whenever she's tired of dealing with them .... um NO and no!!!!!
Remember the school really doesn’t care
About SD. The school is offering on line schooling. Covering there a$$ by law. Schools don't want to deal with students who really don't want to be there and the kids parents have no control over that kid. This kid needs to be put on drugs and major mental health help.
'Get this kid out of your home if BM doesn't care then it's BM problem
She is already on medication
She is already on medication and is in therapy. She was in intensive therapy- she went for a week and then refused to go and you can't force them into the vehicle. She was rejected by the inpatient facilty we found for her medical issue. Not a whole lot of options left.
Your SD is still young at age
Your SD is still young at age 15. As she gets to be an older teen the consequences of all of her "refusals" are only going to get worse for her and I don't think she realizes this at this point. Sure, she might be able to get away with stuff now. And hopefully some of this gets shut down.
However no one in the real world is going to tolerate this as she becomes older and she may find herself in some tough places when she can't just magically coast on by without a plan, a job, education, house.... Just exactly what does she plan on doing with her life. She will only get so far. I don't think she'll be living at daddy's house forever with no job and schooling.
This kid needs to be in the
This kid needs to be in the system. Have a judge climb her ass, tell her to get her ass to class and apply the looming consequence of her attending a disciplinary school for adjudicated teens.
You do not have much time. She can drop out at 16 which is less than a year. I would also make it clear to DH that if she does drop out, she will no longer be in your home. Hand him the print outs for forcing emancipation on a minor. She wants to play adult, she can support, house, and feed herself.
I had my similar moment when I was 16. I had bombed my sophomore year of HS. My parents enrolled me in military school for my second sophomore year. Mom, dad, and I were waiting for him to board his flight to fly back home. Mom and I had another several weeks before my report date to school. I informed my parents I would not go to military school. Dad quietly picked up his brief case, opened it, wrote me a check for $500 and told me I was 16 and it was my choice but that check was the last family resources I would get and to make sure to contact them when I found a place to live.
I held that check for a very few seconds that felt like hours. Handed the check back, and said that I would go.
That is a memory that I very likely supress. It only arrises when something triggers it.
Yes, get this kid some therap. However, in my own experience it is time for parental hardball. There is no time for anything that is not immediately and assertive. She gets her ass in class, she keeps her mouth shut, she gets the common denominator speech day and and day out with zero tolerance for the "school suckes, the teachers are stupid, the other kids are idiots" bullshit. She and she alone is the common denominator and she needs a parental boot up her ass. School, or at 16 she gets to experience how to suppor herself completely.
My experience was eye opening and set the foundation for eventually performing as a viable adult. If my parents had tolerated me continuing down the path I was on, I would not have the life I have. That what if, would not have turned out well for me.
Parents need clarity that their job is to create viable adults. Each kid is different, however, the goal is the same regardless of the kid. When the kid won't get out of their own way, the parent needs to make sure that kid keeps their head out of their own ass.
We had a near miss with SS. That was at Military School. The Spermidiot hacked the school firewall and he and SS would stay up all night playing WoW to the point that SS was a comatose zombie in class failing the only class in the Fall of Sr. year that he had to pass to graduate in the spring. That class was not offered in the Spring or summer so we would have had to pay another full year of tuition for him to finish and we had zero trust in SS that he would actually do the work to graduated. He had kicked ass his Jr year. Top of his class, top performance in the Corps of Cadets, top leader, top athelete (qualified for the national championships in military drill), top musician in the Corps military marching band. But, instead of spending that money, we withdrew him at Christmas break, brought him home, enrolled him our local HS, He had one semester to graduate. To make our point very clear, we made a visit to the local homeless camp to highlight where he would be dropped off on what should be his graduation day if his Spermidiot did not send him a bus ticket.
That kid was terrified for the next 5mos and worked his ass off. He did graduate on time. It was not a fun time for any of us, but it was what we thought necessary to get him a diploma and learn that he and he alone was responsible for his moving forward in life.
Good luck with this one.
To make our point very clear,
I kinda of did a similar move ... drove by a cemetery and told Lilly jr "this where you gone end up if you playing around in school, wasting time, choosing low paying majors / careers, hanging around people who have no life ambition"
Had to tell her I was joking about the cemetery but I was serious as a heart attack about the rest of it
Lilly jr graduated with honors but still gotta stay on her so she maintains that same drive
You, are a real parent. Lilly
You, are a real parent. Lilly Jr. is blessed to have you.