Parents' Night. It's not just for parents.
Last week was Parents' Night at Daughter's school. The morning of, Daughter said she had asked The Ex if she was coming; she told Daughter that she "didn't know."
We got to the school a little early, I talked to the athletic director for a few minutes. A little while later, Daughter said she needed to find the AD and talk to him. Daughter said that she had only listed The Ex as a "maybe" for Parents' Night, but she just found out that The Ex was coming so she said that she "had to make sure" they announced The Ex's name along with ours. (The way she said it implied she knew that she was going to get an earful if The Ex's name wasn't announced. Am I the only one who finds it a somewhat interesting that Daughter has them read The Ex's name only if she attends the event? All of the other events that The Ex has missed, Daughter told them only to read my and Husband's names.)
So The Ex shows up with Ned in tow. I was volunteering at the concession stand so I had two bizarre interactions with Ned. He first walked to the bathroom; when he came out, he started back toward the gym, stopped, turned and stared at me, looked back at the gym, and then walked over to concessions. I very nicely asked what I could get him. (I'm not being sarcastic when I say that I was very nice to Ned. I've never spoken to him in my life until this particular night; I simply acted like he was a regular customer who hadn't heard all sorts of lies about myself and Husband.) Ned looked at me and said in one of the quietest, most monotone voices imaginable: "Popcorn." I said okay, and asked if he wanted just one bag. "Yeah." I gave him his popcorn, told him the amount, he handed me the money, I thanked him, and he walked away without saying anything else.
We were very busy that night and ran out of bottled water. Well, on Ned's second trip, you can take a guess what he wanted to buy... There was a line forming, I was helping people while running back and forth, it got to be Ned's turn. He already had his money out, and I'm not even sure if I got a chance to ask what he wanted. Same monotone voice: "Water." I apologized and said we had run out. Ned turned and started to walk away. I said there might be some over in the vending machines; Ned kind of looked over his shoulder and just kept walking.
But the real magic happened when it was time for Parents' Night. They start announcing all of the parents, who walk out onto the gym floor and meet their child. They start with freshmen and work their way up to seniors. When they reached Daughter, the athletic director announces, "[Daughter first and last name]; parents [Husband], [my name], and [The Ex]." We all get up from the bleachers and walk over to Daughter. As Husband and I turn to face the crowd, we realize The Ex did not come alone.
Ned also walked out onto the gym floor for Parents' Night.
I just don't understand this. I've wondered if the two of them didn't run off and get married, just like The Ex did with Boyfriend and then told the kids about it as an afterthought. I don't know why Ned and/or The Ex felt entitled enough to consider him to be Daughter's "parent" when, quite frankly, Daughter doesn't like him; she's said more than once that she thinks that The Ex was better off before she started dating Ned. I think that The Ex probably insisted that he come with her since she keeps trying to push this idea of Ned being all of her kids "dad," plus she probably thought that Husband would be really offended or upset by Ned being there.
I'm trying to imagine what the crowds' thoughts were: "Okay, so we know Husband and Stepmom; we see them at every game. That other woman must be Daughter's biological mom. So...who is that guy? Why didn't they announce his name? What is he doing out there?"
Daughter told me later that as we were standing on the court, The Ex started talking about her tournament this upcoming weekend and saying she was going to leave Daughter here for the weekend. Because obviously, the best time to discuss this is during the presentation on Parents' Night; don't call your child later and have an actual conversation about it.
Daughter also said that before the second set had ended, The Ex and Ned walked over by the team. The Ex told Daughter that they were leaving; Daughter said, "You can't wait until the end of this set?" The Ex said something about it getting late and them needing to get home. Daughter said, "I'm taking stats, I kind of can't [say goodbye] right now." And then, The Ex and Ned left.
Such a bizarre night, honestly.
We got to the school a little early, I talked to the athletic director for a few minutes. A little while later, Daughter said she needed to find the AD and talk to him. Daughter said that she had only listed The Ex as a "maybe" for Parents' Night, but she just found out that The Ex was coming so she said that she "had to make sure" they announced The Ex's name along with ours. (The way she said it implied she knew that she was going to get an earful if The Ex's name wasn't announced. Am I the only one who finds it a somewhat interesting that Daughter has them read The Ex's name only if she attends the event? All of the other events that The Ex has missed, Daughter told them only to read my and Husband's names.)
So The Ex shows up with Ned in tow. I was volunteering at the concession stand so I had two bizarre interactions with Ned. He first walked to the bathroom; when he came out, he started back toward the gym, stopped, turned and stared at me, looked back at the gym, and then walked over to concessions. I very nicely asked what I could get him. (I'm not being sarcastic when I say that I was very nice to Ned. I've never spoken to him in my life until this particular night; I simply acted like he was a regular customer who hadn't heard all sorts of lies about myself and Husband.) Ned looked at me and said in one of the quietest, most monotone voices imaginable: "Popcorn." I said okay, and asked if he wanted just one bag. "Yeah." I gave him his popcorn, told him the amount, he handed me the money, I thanked him, and he walked away without saying anything else.
We were very busy that night and ran out of bottled water. Well, on Ned's second trip, you can take a guess what he wanted to buy... There was a line forming, I was helping people while running back and forth, it got to be Ned's turn. He already had his money out, and I'm not even sure if I got a chance to ask what he wanted. Same monotone voice: "Water." I apologized and said we had run out. Ned turned and started to walk away. I said there might be some over in the vending machines; Ned kind of looked over his shoulder and just kept walking.
But the real magic happened when it was time for Parents' Night. They start announcing all of the parents, who walk out onto the gym floor and meet their child. They start with freshmen and work their way up to seniors. When they reached Daughter, the athletic director announces, "[Daughter first and last name]; parents [Husband], [my name], and [The Ex]." We all get up from the bleachers and walk over to Daughter. As Husband and I turn to face the crowd, we realize The Ex did not come alone.
Ned also walked out onto the gym floor for Parents' Night.
I just don't understand this. I've wondered if the two of them didn't run off and get married, just like The Ex did with Boyfriend and then told the kids about it as an afterthought. I don't know why Ned and/or The Ex felt entitled enough to consider him to be Daughter's "parent" when, quite frankly, Daughter doesn't like him; she's said more than once that she thinks that The Ex was better off before she started dating Ned. I think that The Ex probably insisted that he come with her since she keeps trying to push this idea of Ned being all of her kids "dad," plus she probably thought that Husband would be really offended or upset by Ned being there.
I'm trying to imagine what the crowds' thoughts were: "Okay, so we know Husband and Stepmom; we see them at every game. That other woman must be Daughter's biological mom. So...who is that guy? Why didn't they announce his name? What is he doing out there?"
Daughter told me later that as we were standing on the court, The Ex started talking about her tournament this upcoming weekend and saying she was going to leave Daughter here for the weekend. Because obviously, the best time to discuss this is during the presentation on Parents' Night; don't call your child later and have an actual conversation about it.
Daughter also said that before the second set had ended, The Ex and Ned walked over by the team. The Ex told Daughter that they were leaving; Daughter said, "You can't wait until the end of this set?" The Ex said something about it getting late and them needing to get home. Daughter said, "I'm taking stats, I kind of can't [say goodbye] right now." And then, The Ex and Ned left.
Such a bizarre night, honestly.
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