Funny ... . But Sad

On the mornings that my kids are with us, my husband drops our high school-er off at her bus stop on his way to work. Then he pulls into my ex-husbands driveway to drop my son off so that the boy can catch the middle school bus from there 1/2 hour later.

Two years ago, when my son was in elementary school and my daughter started middle school, the kids started school too late in the morning for my husband to drop them off and still get to work on time. So I would do it. In the beginning of that first year, when the kids had different start times, I would drop my daughter off at her bus stop and then drop my son off at his Dad's so that he could catch the bus 1/2 hour later.

After about two weeks of doing this, my son begged me not to drop him off at his Dad's anymore on my mornings because his step mom was bothering him. She would analyze his outfits, his backpack, his lunch, his teeth, his hair... etc.... and make critical remarks about anything and everything. She took the key chains that he was collecting (from me) off of his back back and told him "they look gay". She made him take off his rubber "support our troops" bracelet (from me) and told him "it was girlie". Her behavior towards him literally made him sick to his stomach in the mornings.

So for two years while my kids had different start times, my son and I would "hang" out for the 1/2 hour difference so that he wouldn't have to deal with her.

Now that the boy is in the middle school and his Dad works from home, (Dad wasn't working from home two years ago and wasn't there to witness, stop, prevent or protect my son from his stepmother), my son feels like he can deal with her better or just avoid her in the mornings if he has too. (Remember the "Are you trying to grow a mustache?" post?)

So today, my husband calls me right after he dropped the kids off and said "the kids were really excited when I dropped them off this morning."

So... here's me..... before he could tell me why... I'm thinking.... oh... maybe they're going away over the weekend... maybe their Dad got them a surprise... Oh... what wonderful thing can it be?

Finally, I asked him "What are they so excited about?"

My husband said.... "Because their Step mom's car is not home."

"You would have thought they were going to Disney World"

Funny..... But Sad