Stop Hurting Me Dad

As I was taking the time to calm down, I made eye contact with my husband who happen to be home that day for Betty Rose's monthly visit. It was nice to have him there because then I felt like I didn't have to handle Betty Rose on my own. As he and I looked at one another I saw the fight building in his eyes the way it was in mine. It was like we had this unspoken language when it came to her. As I rolled my eyes he just gave me his, got get her grin, which told me it was time to shut her up. But before I could open my mouth to comment Betty Rose began talking again.

After she had just mentioned how poorly the last visit had gone and how she was concerned about their parenting skills were. She then must have decided that since we were already mad, it was probably the time to drop another bomb on us.

She began by saying, "There is another issue that the bios have asked me to talk to you guys about." I could not imagine what these people possibly thought we needed to discuss through Betty Rose. Just the idea of having a discussion with them made my heart pound and having her involved just caused bigger problems for me. I said, "There is an issue?"

With a nod of her head she began to explain," They think Julian is losing his Spanish words. They would like for you to start speaking Spanish to him so he can understand them at visits. It would be helpful if you could get toys and books in Spanish too. Just think you guys could become bilingual through this experience." I began to laugh out loud. At first I think she thought I was laughing because she made the joke about being bilingual. Really I was laughing at this ridiculous request. It was the kind of laugh that seemed fun at first but by the time I was done laughing she felt like an idiot.

I said, " Are you kidding me? He lost his Spanish words? He is 8 months old and has two words, Dada and Mama, and that is me and my husband. He never had Spanish words to lose Betty Rose. Remember when they broke his legs at 3 months old and lost him, was he fluent in Spanish then and we just missed the miracle of his speech? I can't believe you would ask this of us too. You knew we weren't bilingual when you placed him with us."

Once again you could hear a pin drop in our home due to Betty Rose's presence. As I stared deep into her eyes looking for some response the only thing I noticed was her face becoming very red. Soon she broke eye contact with me and looked over to my husband. He gained his composer much better than I did and he said,"Is that what we need to do? Teach him Spanish so we can keep him?" She said in a nervous voice,"Well it would NOT ensure that you keep him but it will look better for you two if you would try to comply with their request." Then without a second thought my husband responded," Then that is what will do, but not for them Betty Rose, for you. Because you asked."

With that Betty Rose wrapped up her third and what I hopped to be her final visit and left our home. As I closed the door behind her, I turned around to start my bitch session to my husband about her visit, as I got him and Julian in my line of sight I heard my husband teaching Julian how to say," Stop hurting me dad," and "Your not my mom" in Spanish! I laughed until I cried that afternoon. My husband always knew just what to do to make me feel better.