Something's Gotta Give

We are thankful for good results from my oldest step-daughter's MRI last week. The test results were completely normal! Praise God! The neurologist elected to do a spinal tap to test the pressure in the spinal fluid and confirmed a diagnosis of "pseudotumor cerebri". At least this is treatable with medication and gives us hope that she can still keep her sight! Thank you Lord!

I wish she was as thankful for it as we are. It seems no matter what she is given or blessed with, she fails to see how much worse it could have been. She has a follow-up appt with the neurologist in a few weeks and decided to stay in the area rather than go back to the biological father's house where she has been living. That's okay for now, considering the gas prices, but she has elected to stay shacked up with her 16 year-old boyfriend about an hour from us. "Boy Blunder", as my husband calls him, is living with his older brother and girlfriend and their baby in a one-bedroom apartment! Now my step-daughter is in the middle of this mess. She has been there for almost 2 weeks now and says she is going to stay there for the next 3 weeks until her appointment with the neurologist. Did I mention only the older brother has a job? That's right, so the step-daughter and "Boy Blunder" are making absolutely no contributions to the household.

My husband and I decided that we have to intervene before she ends up pregnant or worse. We talked last night about our options. Her car was purchased for her to have "dependable transportion for college". Now that she is not going to school, we have decided it is time for her to get a job and take over payments. If she decides she doesn't want to do that, then it is only right that we take the car back. You see, my hubby is the owner on the title, the ex-wife is the co-buyer and makes the payments right now. Some life lessons are learned the hard way. The car was not purchased for her and "Boy Blunder" to drive around.

We have offered many times for her to come and stay with us until she goes back to the biological dad's house. She has her own room here and would be guaranteed to eat everyday! She will be 19 on March 30th. So, yes, she would be expected to pick up after herself instead of laying around the house all day. She says she doesn't want rules and doesn't like to make plans, because something always ruins them. She has a twisted view of what life is going to be like! There are rules in your job, laws to follow, deadlines to keep! It is time to make some plans on what you want to do the rest of your life. The free-loading has to stop!

As soon as the two of us have a day off together, it looks like we will be making a surprise visit to that apartment for a little "heart to heart". For now, we can only pray that God will open her eyes to the future she is headed for and give her the courage to swallow her pride and make some changes!