Ann's Story Part 23: It was not always drama

2/17
To my friend:

I'm getting better at not responding to some of Ann's stuff. She whines or fusses and I ignore her...sometimes even going into my room. It works. She has stopped with much of it. She called Mandy this morning to see if she could spend the day there. Mandy told her no, that all the girls were there and she should come sometime when it was quiet. I was pleased to see that. It is the first time that Mandy has not let her visit. I want for Ann to get to see them a lot, but it is good for her to see that it is not all in her control. It is also good to have the message that she should not be spending a lot of time with the girls reinforced.

There is a meeting which has not happened. I spoke with Ruby and she said that the Mandy and John were unhappy and that things were happening that they (the social workers) were trying to keep us out of. She also said that Mandy and John were not returning their phone calls.

I agreed that I did not want to be involved in it, but I am beginning to wonder what exactly Mandy and John are doing. The only thing I can think is that they have contacted the state social worker to complain.

To my friend on 2/19

Ann is home again, still sick. I had to take an hour to take her to the convenience clinic so that we could get a note for her parole officer for missing two days of school. She did not require medical attention, but we had to go anyway. Now I am trying to work and she is supposed to be doing homework. She is incapable of silence though. Roland and Brian are like that. If they don't have anything to say they hum, or make funny noises. I am doing my best to ignore her. I told her that I did not want to talk to me unless she needed help. That lasted about 2 minutes, "I don't want to go to school tomorrow...(heavy sigh)...but I have to. I know what I need to do in history though. And I am talking again and I am not supposed too."

2/21 social worker

I thought you would be interested in knowing about a conversation we had last night.
Ann was supposed to be doing her homework but instead was trying to engage me in a conversation. I consistently just made little throat noises and kept doing my work. Finally she said,
"I want to go home."
"uh huh"
"Can I call my mom and ask if I can visit this weekend."
"Mmm..."
"Yondalla! You are supposed to take pity on me."
"Mmm..."
"Okay...I'll do the homework."
She did do it, and she did not ask about visiting Mandy again.

Part 24