"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

So said a judge to me regarding my 15 year old daughter Sierra, who, by the way, walked into a courtroom with her hands behind her back, as defiant as I've ever seen her. 

My husband and I looked at each other and we just could not believe this was the girl we raised and I gave birth to.  The only comfort was her hair was back to her natural color, which is the same as mine. 
This took place at a private hearing at a courthouse in City Hall in downtown Hidden Springs.  The hearing was about Sierra's behavior and was to determine her placement.

 

When the judge immediately remanded her to Fort Starch Military Academy, I rose up to speak.  "Listen, I don't understand, can't she have some other placement?  My older son was placed there and he's still under a psychiatrist's care for post-traumatic stress disorder.  He's too young for PTSD!  I don't want that happening to my daughter!"

"I'm aware of your son's diagnosis, Mrs. Cheesman," replied the judge. "We've had quite a few kids who had PTSD upon leaving Fort Starch."

"Can't you put kids who act up somewhere else?"

"It's pretty much our standard punishment.  When kids get out of control, we send them to rigorous boot-camp style training at Fort Starch and it works in straightening them out most of the time.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Cheesman, the fact that you're in this same situation with another child reflects poorly on you."

"Are you calling me a bad mother?"

 

   

"Calm down, Savannah," my husband whispered, putting his strong, loving arm around me.  But I was seething. 
I wanted to reach over and clobber that judge.
Maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.   I'm not the best parent in the world -- hell, I'm not even the best parent in my own house -- and I acknowledge that I've made mistakes, but I'm not the demon that judge has made me out to be. 

The Two Andrews

I know two guys named Andrew.  I married one and gave birth to the other.  But neither of them actually go by that name.  

The other evening at dusk the two Andrews disappeared on a fishing trip.   The older Andrew said he wanted to talk to the younger Andrew about some things that had been bothering him, namely something Sage had told him about what was going on at college.   Sage doesn't even tell ME this stuff.  She tells it to Andrew senior, and also to her diary.

According to Sage's diary (yes I do read it), Little Andrew met a young woman at university called Samantha Grey, who's in the Tri-Fruhm sorority there, and, apparently, he is quite smitten with her.   But there's a problem.  He's a Plumb man, of course there's a problem.  When the Plumb men get involved in romantic relationships, there's almost always a problem. 

He and Sage's best friend, Kayleigh Andre, got a dare at a party, got drunk, and kissed each other.  Whoops.
Sage is pissed at both of them.  From what little I know of the situation I can't say I blame her. 

And now, according to Sage's diary, Little Andrew is moving back and forth between the two of them. Bassy would be proud. 

And that, presumably, is what Big Andrew wanted to talk to Little Andrew about.  What I would have given to be a fly on the wall of that truck.

I countered the guys' fishing trip by taking my daughters (yes even Sierra) dining out at the fanciest restaurant in Hidden Springs, Scrumptious Nibbles Cafe.  We even rented a limo and wore dressy outfits for the occasion. It was a little girls' night out. 

Sage ran into Braden Cooper, her old high school crush.  They talked for a little bit and she found out he was dating a girl called Marley Wentworth, but had been trying to get a meeting with Princess Anastasia, to no avail.  She shook her head and realized she was completely over him. 

We were all exhausted but the dinner was rewarding.  We spent most of it talking about college.  Sage was raving about her environmental science teacher, Dr. Cramsky, and talking about her art history professor, Dr. Noetal, who she says is a big fan of my work.  She also talked about a curious guy with blue hair that keeps following her around...I warned Sage not to mention blue hair, it might give Sierra ideas.  "Why don't you talk to the guy and see what you have in common, Sage," I advised her.    

When my husband got home, he recounted the conversation with our son.
"We haven't done this in awhile."
"Since I was little, dad."
"Are you angry with me, son?"
"No, I'm not angry --"
"You sound like it."
"I was at Fort Starch."
"Son, if I could have come to get you from there, believe me, your mother and I, we would have come crawling.  But we were forbidden to remove you until your sentence was complete."

"Tell me, who is this Samantha?"  Andy asked as he cast his line into the pond.
AJ sighed.  "She -- she's just a girl.  She kept inviting me to campus parties and then asked me on a date and I finally accepted."
"Sounds persistent."
"I guess you could say that."  AJ sounded defensive.  "Who told you?"
Andy took a deep breath.  "Sage told me."

 "Sage has a big mouth,"  AJ muttered as he pulled a nice perch from the waters.

"Great catch, son!" shouted Andy in an effort to change the subject.  "Actually, I'm glad she told me, because I wanted to talk to you, anyway.  I realize you're a lot closer to your mother and that's great.  But there are some things that need a male perspective.  Like this situation with Samantha and Kayleigh."
"C'mon, dad, I'm not going steady with either of 'em.  We just went out on a couple dates, that's it.  I hardly know them."
"But you can't keep stringing them along either, son.  You just can't do it.  It's not right.  It's exhausting for you and for them, too.  It is up to you, though, to figure out what you want to do.  You have to do what feels right for you.  This isn't about me, your mother, or your sister.  It's about you."