I breed prize winning clams.

I decided to crack down and be tough on the girls today. So when Athena and Audrey started fighting, I gave them one warning. The next time I sent them to their rooms until lunch. I gave them another chance. We went to the park and after about 20 minutes some guy with a camera came by. I thought nothing of it. A little bit later, Sam commented on how she thought that the guy was taking photos of us and that every time she looked over at him (he was pretty far away) he turned and looked away. I got the girls out of there ASAP. Didnt want to take any chances. We get back to the house and the girls have a water balloon fight. Athena and Audrey actually start fighting and I once again am forced to send them up to their rooms. Athena said that she hated this summer and it was going to be a horrible one. Ouch. I took that as a direct hit. I know I am supposed to be tough and all, but that hurt. Athena is my favorite and I never thought she would say something like that. Sam and I went out and hit each other with painful missiles of water wrapped in rubber and came back in to make some cocoa. I let the girls out of their rooms to get cocoa even though I had told them that they couldnt have any because of fighting. I am such a pushover. The rest of the day went smoothly. The season finale of Farmer Wants a Wife was tonight and the girls actually started counting down at 9am. They were just so excited. And I kinda was too. We really bonded over that show, silly as it was. Well, we didnt end up watching it together. Sam and Athena went with Mike and Carrie to do laundry over at Mike's mom's and Audrey and I watched it alone. But after the show, Sam ran into the house and screamed "BROOKE WONNNNNNN!" which I had also been surprised by considering she was a long shot toward the end. So the girl that the girls were rooting for was the victor. Awesome.
Divorce has never really affected me. About 95% of my friends parents are still married (though happily I couldnt say) and my own parents get along smashingly. But I saw the affects of divorce tonight with Sam. Mike and Carrie called her out on not going to cheerleading practice on Tuesday. Sam cried for two hours. I sat there with her, trying to calm her down. The entire time Mike and Carrie are verbally just wearing her down and using the 'when I was your age' as well as the 'you dont know how good you have it' and calling her a liar, quitter and annoyance. I just wanted to hold this poor girl in my arms, rock her and tell her that everything is going to be okay. After a lifetime she told Mike and Carrie that her mom had told her that practice had been cancelled. We all knew that Sam's mom doesnt want Sam to do cheerleading anymore because she doesnt want to drive her in to practice (Or so says Mike. I dont want to judge). So Sam tries telling Mike and Carrie how hard it is to have both parents saying the other is wrong and saying horrible things about the other. Last year I guess she was put in the middle when one parent accused the other of not paying their half for cheerleading. Dont know how all that went down, but it sounds like Sam had to deal with a lot of stuff and ended up being the messenger. She is thirteen. She shouldnt have to deal with that! I've known her to be a very strong kid, and she is very caring and loving, and it just killed me to see her break down like this. Carrie and Mike basically told her to suck it up, this stuff happens. After they sent her to bed at midnight, I walked her to her room, held her and told her that we would work it out. She just sobbed and nodded into my shoulder. She was just exhausted and practically passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow. I just couldnt believe the way that Mike was treating her. He was so cold and kept accusing her of stuff and it only made everything worse. I know he means well and he is a good guy, but he has no idea how to handle these situations. The entire time I kept thinking that I would never be able to marry a guy like that. Poor Sam.