Education of the devious parent.

Florida likes to educate me, indeed.

I was her student in public school.
She sent me to college on scholarships.
Pays for me to attend seminars to become a better manager.
and now is educating me on the best way to parent the child of a divorced couple.

FOUR HOURS of education in a state mandated class.
Led by an instructor who had burgundy colored dyke-spikes and leered at me from behind her wooden podium while she proclaimed her distaste in abusive behavior, including, but not limited to- the evils of Co-Sleeping.

'Co-sleeping is devastating to a child! DEV-A-STA-TING. Am I clear?'

'Co-sleeping is as bad as incest. It is an EMOTIONAL INCEST'

'Co-sleeping with your child is setting them up for failure in future relationships.'

'Co-sleeping will cause your children to get kicked out of kindergarten for snorting lines of pixie-stick dust on their Kindermat during nap time! Co-sleeping will turn your children into thugs, as they join a notorious gang and snatch kittens in their sleep! Co-sleeping is conditioning your children to become serial killers! Bundy, Manson, Gacy- ALL CO-SLEEPEEEEEEEEERRRRS!'

Ok, so that last part may have been an embellishment. But I will have you know, the first three statements- verbatim. Words that spewed forth from her lips that were met with horrible reception at my ears. The purple dye had seeped into her brain.

I CO-SLEEP, whatchagonnadoboutit?

I haven't always allowed my son to sleep with me. In fact, before his father and I separated, he never slept with me- or us. He was just a good sleeper. Slept well in his crib. Slept well in his toddler bed. Even slept well in a room that was across the house from us.

And then...... we moved out of the house that we shared with his father. We moved into a house that was already occupied- my parents house. We begrudgingly re-located all of our furniture, our toys, books and knick-knacks into a room that we shared. My bed was there, so was his. But as time passed and he began to realize that we weren't going 'home', that THIS was our new home, the comfort that had allowed him to sleep in his own bed, shattered.

He wanted to sleep with me in the middle of the night.
He would crawl from his bed, up into mine and bury himself under my duvet. Then he wanted to fall asleep in my bed. Then he wanted it to be 'our' bed. And I allowed it.

He needed that extra dose of security. He needs to feel like he is protected. I need him to feel safe as well.

I digress, I know that there are rotten people out there- who make such broad statements without any regard to the situation. At the risk of sounding cliche- she really doesn't know me. Or Brae. Or what we are going through. No two divorces are the same. Not all parents chose to parent their children. Not all children chose to love their parents.

The class was an incredible waste of time and my emotions. I forfeited an entire day with my son as I went straight from work to the class and returned home after he was asleep. I had to endure the class with my soon to be ex-husband and while I was angry upset furious at him, I was secretly pleased with some of the information that was being hurled his way. We sat silent for four hours and I left him on the side-walk outside of the school it was being held. He wanted to make idle chit-chat, I just wanted to move on. So I did. He climbed into his girlfriends car that was outside waiting for him and moved on as well.
Then it hit me.

It's almost over.
I cried.
Its been a helluva year.