FicWad

Mac MacCloud
Martian Base 2349
Phone 732-9510
Home Phone 1-951-233-7230






April 21

Skyracer Anastasia Baitmore MacCloud
1778 Connerston Lane W
Port Hawkes Bury
Cape Breton Island
Nova Scotia
K4B 3P5



Dear Skyracer ,

Please accept my apology for the way in which I treated you the last time you visited me. Under no circumstances should I have treated you like a servant instead of my daughter. By way of explanation (not an excuse), I've had a change attitude.


After a long observance of my many journals that you encouraged me to keep, I soon came to realize that I was never sober enough to make your stay as comfortable as possible.

Obviously, I haven't done my job as your father nor have I done my job in giving you the discipline and structure you have come to expect. Thank you for bringing this problem to my attention.

I hope that this letter finds you in better spirits then after you had left for home.

I happened to hear that you felt let down and heart broken after our time together and I came to realize that the way I acted wasn't appropriate and inexcusable for someone my age and for my title as Parent.

I'd like to take this opportunity and tell you that I fully accept the blame for the things that happened during your stay. I should never have accused you of stealing money from me without proof that you had indeed stolen the money out of my wallet while I slept off one of my many hangovers in my room which both you and I know is off limits to you unless you knock and I say it's all right for you to enter.

The things that I have done since I heard that you didn't want to spend March Break with me, are as follows:

1. I took part and graduated from a Parenting Course in which I learned how to effectively and properly parent you, my only daughter and have learned to take rules and consequences from your mother and keep them here same rules at home same rules when you're with me and here's a recap of the rules



Rules

1: Bedtime Monday to Thursday 11:30

2: Bedtime Friday & Saturday 1 A.M.

3: Curfew is 10:50 P.M.

4: chores to be done every day

5: check in with me at all times

6: ASK to be able to have dinner at a friend's home

7: Homework not done and homework sheet not signed

8: keep cat clean and feed

9: Ask before bringing anyone home

10: Keep your room clean

11: Keep grades at pass level and hand in all assignments on their due date

12: I will not allow you to miss more the the allowed school days

13: Wear appropriate Clothing to school

14: Keep your School Uniform clean and ironed

15: Don't back talk!

16: Do as I ask when I ask!



Punishment if broken

1: Reading Time Deducted

2: Bed time goes back to 12 A.M.

3: Grounded for a week

4: Loose a privelige

5: Grounded for two weeks,no friends,no phone

6: Grounded for three weeks,no friends and no phone

7: No tv until homework is done and I've signed the homework sheet

8: You get docked $15.00

9: a month's grounding and no friends for the final week!

10: No friends or phone calls or visits until room is clean

11: No friends or phone calls or visits until grades improve and assignments get handed in,PLUS Two extra hours of homework.

12: Two month grounding and stripped of all privileges

13: Inappropriate clothes get put in steamer trunk and sent back to your mother for her to deal with

14: You get introduced to two new chores: Laundry and Ironing

15: Two month and three week grounding plus stripped of all priveliges

16: Grounded indefinitley while I conference call with your mother to decide what punishment to hand

down!

2. I took the long three months before your spring break and have successfully quit drinking so much that it impairs my judgment,critical thinking and problem solving skills

3.During that time I also tried some meditation to clear my mind of the painful pangs of sorrow that were coursing through my body and focused on how I could make the next visit, I mean if you will ever come back, more comfortable and more oriented around things we can do together and not alone.

4. I made up a time sheet and have left it blank so that I won't interfere with where you want to go and want to do when you're with me. I hope by doing this one thing, it will bring us closer together instead of drive us apart.

5. I have done a severe Spring Cleaning of my home so that it will look like an adult lives there not a pig

6. I have definitely placed a cement ceiling on my temper so that it will never again get out of hand

And finally the last thing I have done to make myself more approachable is that I have forced myself to listen then ask questions, give the matter some long hard though and then I have forced myself into reacting after thinking so that I have a clearer picture of what it is you're trying to tell me and so that I won't get upset when ever you do something I don't no I should rephrase that one.

What I'm trying to say is that after I've heard you out, asked any questions that I might have, left the room to think it over, I would have reacted later with a cool head and a clear idea of what I was going to say so that I won't get upset over something that you did not knowing how I would respond.

I guess the best example I could come up with would be the time you got up in the middle of the night, crept past my room, and headed into the kitchen for something to eat because you were too tired to eat and your throat was too sore to swallow anything and started riffling through the kitchen cupboards trying to find something to soothe the soreness in your throat.

When I heard the commotion in the kitchen, I jumped out of bed because I thought someone had broken in and was robbing me, left my room with a heavy flashlight and went directly to your room to ensure that you were all right. Of course when I shone my light into your room and found your bed empty, I panicked and thought you'd been kidnapped.

After finding your bed empty, I quietly hurried out of your room, down the hall and crept through the living room and was about to holler when I heard a harsh coughing sound coming from the dining room and instantly I knew it was you, but I didn't know that you were looking for some soup to eat.

Of course it hit me right then and there that something wasn't right and I had to find out what it was. I'm no doctor but I figured it may have been either tonsillitis or laryngitis. I also wanted to take the time to apologize for scaring you out of your mind in the kitchen when I came up behind you.

I forgot that you couldn't answer any of my questions because your voice was gone. I am honestly hoping that this letter will express my deepest heartfelt sorrow and will encourage you to call me when ever you can so we can get back to our old schedule with alot of revisions in it so we can easily do the things you'd like to do and the things I'd like you to try instead of imposing all of the things I want you to do.

Yes Skyracer, I am willing to comprimise and I am also willing to try out some of the things you'd like me to try and I promise that the whining will cease. Please call me and we both can set up a date that works for the both of us. I realize that by the time this letter arrives, your exams will have begun and I am willing to give you some time to unwind after exams are over so that you won't be so tense when you come to visit me again in the upcoming months at your discression of course.

I am no longer picking and choosing dates that I give to you so you can be aware of what I want you to do. Instead, why don't we do this together? That way I can write the activity down and be fully aware of what we've scheduled to do together when you are coming to visit.

Please don't let this incident have caused you to do poorly in any of your classes. I wouldn't want you to fail and have to repeat fifth grade another year. I'll see you when next you choose to forgive me.


Sincerely,
Dad