The Crock

Those Four Little Words

I dont profess to be the smartest guy on the planet but I do have my moments. The
Dear Abby column in last Sundays paper confirms what I have said all along about the
Factory and her quest to alienate her children against her. A letter written to Abigail Van Buren
(real name of Jeanne Phillips) demonstrates the stress a 13 year old boy feels when his mother
fails to support his efforts in sports. He tells of how his mother is so negative and asks Abbys
advice on how to get his mother to support him and stop spewing untruths about his father who
encourages and supports him as an athlete or at very least, his desire to be one.
SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2014
Jeanne Phillips
Dear Abby
Syndicated Columnist

DEAR ABBY:
Im a 13-year old boy who loves to play baseball and football. Because
of my hard work and dedication over the years, along with the help of my
coaches and my dad, Im pretty good at both sports.
The issue is, my mom does not support me and repeatedly tells me Im
not good at either one. When she says it, it cuts my heart out.
My parents have been divorced since I was 2, and Dad has always done
everything for me. Even though he gives me encouragement, it still stings
when Mom tells me Im not good. She constantly says negative and bad things
about my dad that I know are not true, but when I defend him she goes crazy
with rage. What can I do to get her to stop being so negative?
-VERY DISCOURAGED IN TEXAS

Response:
DEAR VERY DISCOURAGED:
Your letter made me sad because there is nothing you can do to make
your mother change her attitude. She appears to be an angry and unhappy
person, who may perceive your closeness with your father as a threat to her.
What you CAN do is stop placing so much importance on receiving her
approval. If your coach thinks your doing well, and these sports bring you a
sense of closeness with your father, then you should enjoy then for those
reasons.

STOP TRAFFIC! You mean the causation of all the bitterness, control, anger,
maliciousness, vexatious, evil, condescending, behavior the Factory has inflicted on me
and her children the past 6 years can be answered for free from a newspaper column? If I
had known this, I would have not spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorneys
shrinks and witch doctors to find the answers. I could have saved hundreds by not putting
the Hecate Hex on Mr. 3 Inch and I damn sure would not have spent any time combing the
psychological articles on the internet to find out what the hell is wrong with this idiot. I
could have simply written a 2 paragraph letter to AbbyFor Free!
The letter this poor boy writes to her is EXACTLY the feelings of my sons. The
contents of the letter are almost verbatim to the actions of the Factory with the exception
that the Factory doesnt think the kids suck at baseball. She knows better. The problem
for her is that she recognizes that me, the dad and baseball coach is largely credited with
teaching my sons what they know.
If you havent seen them play, it is difficult for this humble father to describe as I will
abstain from bragging on them. The best proof is to see them play or rely on others who
are qualified to assess their talent and have them tell you how good they are. What the
Factory has said is; You should not be coaching anybody. Oh yeah? Why not? I have
coached over 500 kids, many whom have gone onto high school to be stars or become
significant players for their teams. When the Factory makes disparaging comments about
me, she is telling her children that at least half of their makeup is jacked up! That they
are not worthy of being ballplayers because they have learned from their father.
This is where Abby adequately points out that the mother has some serious issues by
attempting to interfere with the emotional development of this young boy and his
closeness with his father. Again, the Factory has been allowed to say whatever she
wants about me without any immediate consequence. The ultimate consequence is that her
sons do not want to live with her any longer and have filed affidavits with the Court to
come and live full time with me. The affidavits are not pretty. They both make claims
very similar to the letter inserted herein. They speak of control, unhappiness, anger and
loss of respect for their mother, which I find disheartening. The words of the Factorys
children had to pierce her heart like an arrow. As harsh as the words were, they were
deserved.
If you to ensure loneliness for years to come when your children leave the nest, make
sure that you control their every move, speak to them as they are always children and not
human beings, make disparaging comments about family members they have no control of
relations and work really hard to keep the kids from their father or mother and you will be
as lonely as the Maytag repair man. Just remember the four little words I reminded
youof.. I Told You So

John D. Lee
One Great Dad!