David Journal

Category: Journal

  • Disaster to opportunity

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    David
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    Toward the end of the workday Ezra hit Noah with a glass and, as usual, showed zero remorse. I pinned him on the stairs (not my best moment) and told him I was done with him assaulting Noah. I later apologized but he wasn’t ready to hear it. He soon took his anger out by…

  • Still easing in

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    David
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    I’ve gotten pretty good at relaxing in the evenings mostly not on my phone (lots of reading) but I’m also feeling like I will be best served by not simply converting to reading in place of mobile games/Facebook/Twitter/YouTube. I want to make sure I’m also doing other things like working in the yard as the…

  • Tracking interactions

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    David
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    I’ve been wanting to keep actual data on Laura having interactions with the kids. Today she voluntarily told me what she had done and described what she considers to be a qualified interaction, then she suggested that I could help track. I guess that means I won’t have to talk her into letting me keep…

  • Surrogate parent

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    David
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    Alex informed me that Ezra played a game we have forbidden on Alex’s VR. When I told Ezra that would be a problem he informed me that Enoch had been playing another game that should be equally banned. I brought up to Alex that Enoch was not allowed to play that game and he point…

  • Another potential tool

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    David
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    Our ministering brothers visited this evening and while talking to Brother Stufflebeam I learned about another potential tool for rebuilding our family. He’s into RC airplanes but interestingly they are pretty cheap build-it-yourself planes. I’m going to get more information from him but the idea of building a place of a few planes that we…

  • Another recovery

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    David
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    After I wrote last night Alex settled down enough to actually talk to me. He told me about an incident earlier in the day where he felt like he was being ignored by Laura (she felt he was chastising her in that earlier exchange). I was able to get him out as he expressed the…

  • Alex is spiraling

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    David
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    There’s really not much else to say. He’s sounding like his old self—accusing me of all kinds of things and telling me I’m not listening while refusing to say what it is I’m not listening to. Tonight he’s indicating that he plans to be dead at 18 as soon as he has to be responsible…

  • Valentine’s Day

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    David
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    Laura and I celebrated Valentine’s Day a day late this year but it was probably the first time we’ve actually done a date for Valentine’s since we got engaged. Dinner and a movie was pretty basic but it was a change from the various things I’ve done for the previous few years when I started…

  • Noticeably better

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    David
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    We seem to have a higher floor now with regard to the order in the house. I have maintained the dishes for several days now even as people are cooking more now that the kitchen is clean. I am consistently able to relax with a book in the evenings (even on evenings like yesterday where…

  • A step from Laura

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    David
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    Laura told me today that when she met with her therapist yesterday she talked about wanting to start doing more. Her therapist suggested one activity per month. Laura said that she wanted something smaller and more consistent and her therapist suggested doing one errand with each child every week. I really like that suggestion. I…