Debriefing

Today I had some time to debrief about the past week. Samuel was with his grandpa,Sophia took a three hour nap and Gabrielle spent the weekend with her mom. I'm worried about the week ahead. It's hard to trust Gabrielle when she's proved so untrustworthy in the past. We have forbidden her to talk on the phone or chat on the computer to this boy. We can control this from home but once she's at school, she has a lot more freedom. She has lunch and Spanish with him so the temptation is there.

We have tried to explain to her why he's not good for her. First of all, he was physically abused by his father up until two years ago. He also saw his mother being abused. This pattern is hard to break especially if he has not gotten help. We are both afraid that this kid is going to snap violently one day. Gabrielle identifies with his pain and really wants to help him. The problem is that he is bringing her into a very dark world. She has become obsessed with him and nothing else matters in her life. Proof of this was the pill taking episode. She couldn't see him, so she took too many pills. We tried to let her see him within boundaries that we set. It didn't work.

She feels that we have taken the only thing that matters to her away. He was all she looked forward to. As parents, we pretty much have broken the relationship with this boy off. The problem lies in trying to keep our relationship with Gabrielle unbroken. She's still talking to us. I think she's given up trying to argue with us over him. She realized that we are serious.

Do I feel we are doing the right thing? I hope so. We've put a lot of prayer into our decisions. I feel George and I have been a united front. We have grown as a couple in the last few weeks. We have not disagreed about any of the decisions we've made. Throughout all the turmoil, I have felt peace. I don't think the little ones have felt the uneasiness in the house because there has been so much peace from us.

I have a meeting with the school on Wednesday. She has her first therapy appointment on Tuesday. I hope it's a good week. Thanks for the prayers.