A responsible mother
Marta and Carlos have been together for a few years and the birth of their twins has not separated them, although communication between the two is complicated and the concerns of the kids take a lot of time.
Now the kids are in 5th grade. Young Pablo’s grades keep going down while his sister Clara has always been the one that studies the most. Carlos does not give Pablo’s low grades much importance, because even though he also had bad grades in school, he now earns a good living with his own business. But Martha is seriously concerned about what will happen to Pablo in high school: “I don’t understand. We we have raised him exactly as we raised his sister. So what is wrong with him?”
Every afternoon, Martha is the one who picks the kids up from school. So she sits with Pablo to encourage him, to help him do homework, to help him feel supported and not stuck. Last year he passed all of his classes but just barely. This year is harder and he is listless and sometimes a bit aggressive. His attitude darkens the atmosphere at home. Every day when Carlos comes home, he finds there has already been a fight and Martha is mad because because she had to punish Pablo for not having finished most of his homework. And every night Clara is on her own.
“This is going to change!” Marta says one day after having read some books on parenting and the roles of the couple. “Enough of me being the only tough parent!”
She asks Carlos if he can leave work earlier and come help Pablo with is homework. “Let’s see if this helps Pablo figure out that he cannot lie to both of us and he has to be responsible. Also maybe he will feel more supported by us.”
It seems like a good solution, right?
But the fights continue and now are between Carlos and Martha because she gave up on struggling with Pablo. And Carlos is told that he has to be home earlier because if not Pablo is not motivated, and “he has to start with math because in class he doesn’t need to be that focused.”
So the situation still has not improved.
Will they make a change, or not?
