Wednesday was somewhat uneventful except for the bag fiasco. So, the kids don't have school on Wednesdays. They have lessons instead. Léa practices theater, Camille swims, and Baptiste plays soccer. Every Wednesday I pick Gregoire up from the daycare and then Baptiste from soccer in a nearby town. And EVERY Wednesday, Baptiste has all of the girls' bags with him. It's such a hassle, even for me but I normally have Gregoire with me. So on one hand I have a 2 year old kid that I need to keep safe while crossing the road and in the other hand I have 3 bags that belong to kids that aren't even with me. I would never expect a 10 year old to carry 6 bags to and from soccer practice just because his sisters refuse to do so themselves. Not only does he have to carry them but he has to keep track of all of this stuff that isn't even his.
We got home from practice and met the rest of the family who was already at the house. Camille noticed that her swimming equipment wasn't in the pile. We looked in the car, in each room, and Baptiste finally remembered that he didn't bring it home. The poor kid got a harsh tongue lashing from his mom for not being able to keep track of one bag out of six. Not only was his mom yelling at him, but Camille with her self-righteous attitude was calling him names and telling him how stupid he was. I was getting more and more furious by the second because it is NOT his responsibility to keep track of his sisters' things and get blamed for it when his hands are too full and something gets left behind!!! He has his own life to worry about.
I decided to take Baptiste out of the situation and offer to drive him back to the soccer field so we could look for the bag together. Baptiste did a once over on all of the grounds, checking the locker rooms, and places he hadn't even ventured. We looked for about 30 minutes in the blistering cold with the help of the coaches before Céline texted me saying that her ex-husband had it. Baptiste let out a great sigh of relief while I nearly lost it. This kid was so torn up over leaving his sister's swimming board behind when he didn't even have it in the first place. It's so wonderful that he cares so much but he needs to realize when it's right to take responsibility or not.
When we got into the car, I asked him why he always carried his sisters' bags to practice. He replied with 'They tell me that if I don't take the bags that they'll get left behind and won't be able to do their homework.' I was so incredibly irate at this point. I just don't understand why, if they're all the same age that they can't take care of their own bags. Where's the feeling of personal responsibility here? I highly doubt that either one of their parents taught them this. Céline and Anthony are such self-sufficient people, I know that they taught their kids well.
As soon as we got home Camille gave an insincere apology to Baptiste. While this was going on, I pulled Didier to the side, told him the whole story, and explained that this wasn't and should never be Baptiste's fault. Didier agreed with all of the points and was angry that Baptiste had to take the fall. He had a talk with the girls in a calm and cool manner. He asked them why Baptiste had their bags every Wednesday and they replied with 'because it's convenient.' That lit Didier up, he kept himself cool and collected but then the girls started arguing with him. I'm so thankful for Didier sometimes because though he can be harsh on the children every once in awhile, he always tells the truth. It's only for their benefit that he doesn't coddle them. The world is not kind to those who don't hold themselves accountable and these kids need to learn this now. They need to stop being lazy, blaming others, and start doing things for themselves...to BETTER themselves...I know that they're capable of this!!! I believe in them!!! They just need to believe in themselves...
Léa and Camille ended up crying and throwing huge tantrums because they always think they're right and Didier's always wrong but I totally backed him up. I was much more gentle when I talked to them but I made sure that they knew that he wasn't out of line and that they were, in fact, the ones in the wrong. Camille ended up writing a 7 page letter to Didier using multiple curse words and really not getting any valid point across. She ended up on a totally different subject. Camille can be such a drama queen sometimes, but you'll have that, pre-teen hormones. She read the letter aloud while crying. It was really quite ridiculous but I'm not going to tell anyone how to raise their kids. It's definitely not my place. I'm only here for sideline guidance.
After she felt like she got enough attention, we were all able to sit down to dinner, and that was the end of that. Thank the heavens because I couldn't have dealt with that huge fit for another minute...If you're going to argue about something, you'd better have evidence to back your claims up and stick to the subject. Oy vey...I hope she grows out of this. I know that both of her parents would want the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment