"Hanna, are you done yet?"
"No, I'm stuck on a few problems. Will you help me?"
She smiled at me. I smiled back at her.
"I'll be glad to."
It took us a little less than an hour to finish the rest of her homework.
"Thank you for helping me. I'm sorry that I lied to you earlier. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just afraid to tell you. When my parents were still together, they never disciplined me when I did something bad, so I'm just not used to that happening now."
"Hanna, it's always going to be better for you if you tell me the truth. I know that you and your dad don't have a very good relationship, so I want you to know that if you need to talk to someone, you can always come to me."
"I can't promise that I will never lie to you again, but I can promise that I will come to you if I need help."
"Let's go downstairs and help Victoria make dinner."
Victoria almost had dinner made, so Hanna and I set the table. Ryan told me that he would be later than usual coming home, so we decided to eat without him. After we finished eating, we all cleaned up the kitchen together. The girls had finished all of their homework before we ate, so they went upstairs to study for their classes. When Ryan came home, I warmed up some dinner for him. I sat by him at the table as he ate.
"Ryan, can we talk?"
"Sure. What's on your mind?"
"Hanna opened up to me today about something, and I need you to understand why she is acting the way she is. She told me that you and her mom never punished her when she did something wrong, you just let it go. She never had an organized structure or routine when she did something, you two just let her off the hook every time. She told me that it's really hard for her adjusting to us being together because my parenting style is different from yours. She likes the way that I handle things when she or Victoria get out of hand."
"Well, what do you want me to do? Rose, I am trying my hardest."
"Ryan, the thing is, you are not trying your hardest. I don't want to get in a fight with you over this, but you have definitely left me parenting by myself these past few weeks. I need you to show Hanna and Victoria that you care about what they are doing with their life, not just the good things, but everything. I don't care if you don't feel comfortable disciplining them, but you need to support me in the way that I parent our kids. I need you to be here for me."
"I'm just not comfortable being strict."
"That's totally okay, but I need them to know that you and I are on the same page. I will take care of disciplining them if you aren't comfortable, but they need to know that you support me in whatever decisions I make for them."
"I understand where you are coming from, and I agree with you. They need to know that we support each other in everything that we do. I want them to have a consistent parenting life when they are here. Where are the girls right now?"
"They're upstairs studying for their classes."
"How about we go upstairs and talk to them. That way, they will see that I am backing you up on anything that you do, and you are backing me up on anything that I do."
"Let's go. Ryan, I just want to tell you thank you. This means a lot to me to have your support."