{"id":18895,"date":"2026-04-23T02:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/?p=18895"},"modified":"2026-04-23T02:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:02:16","slug":"chapter-157-misunderstandings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/?p=18895","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 157 Misunderstandings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monday, January 11, 2016, <\/strong>

During December, I have an Elf on the Shelf out for my grandkids when they come over. When we least expect it, the Elf gets into mischief or does something funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bladen named him Sam.

It’s so cute to see how they react to Sam when he does something silly.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I was going to pack Sam away and have him come out again next year. Bladen fell in love with him and asked if he could take it home. It’s hard to say no, so I let him keep it.

Monday, January 18, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bladen got a pair of pajamas so he could dress just like Sam. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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I made Sam his own bed with a pillow, a sheet, and a blanket. I even made him some pajamas and some other clothes.

Monday, January 25, 2016<\/strong>

I have spoken Danish to my grandkid since they were born. They come over every Monday for Danish lessons. I always look forward to it and have something fun planned to help them learn the language.

When Emma dropped off the grandkids today for their Danish lesson, Bladen told me that Sam doesn’t do anything magic at his house. I told him it’s probably because it’s not Christmas. He responded, “You know how you say he only works if you behave? Well, I don’t think Mom and Dad are behaving, and that’s why he isn’t doing anything.” His comment made me laugh.

Then Bladen asked, “Why don’t you like my mom?” It caught me off guard because Richard had told me that she was the one who didn’t like me.

At the time, I didn’t know he had told Jared that I didn’t like her.<\/em>

I said, “I love your mom!” Bladen said, “No, you don’t.” I said, “It’s your mom that doesn’t like me.” Bladen said, “Yes, she does! It’s you who don’t like her.” I assured him that wasn’t true and that it was the other way around.

After the grandkids got picked up and were back home, Emma called me. She was upset and wanted to know why I had this conversation with Bladen. I told her I didn’t mean to; it just happened. Before I knew it, we were both frustrated with each other. Since the conversation went unresolved, I worried that I might not be allowed to see my grandkids again.

When Richard came home, I told him about my conversation with Emma. He said he had been worried that this might happen because of how she felt about me. I asked him why he thought she didn’t like me. He said, “When I have talked to Jared, he has told me that she doesn’t like you because of the way you are, and she is probably trying to put the blame back on you.”

I went to bed heartbroken. I was trying to go to sleep, but I couldn’t stop crying. Richard told me he had to get up for work the next day and asked me to go cry somewhere else. I apologized and went into the living room.

Saturday, January 30, 2016 <\/strong>

Richard always got up early to go to the gym. Right after I got my inheritance, Richard bought himself some very expensive weight-lifting equipment. He told me that he needed it so that he wouldn’t be tempted to look at the guys at the gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After he had put it together, he still got up early and went to the gym.

I asked him why he had not used it. He told me it was because he wasn’t tempted to look at the guys after all, since he had been cured.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The only time he had touched the equipment was when he had put it together. It was taking up a whole room in the basement. I asked him if it was okay for me to sell it. Then I could use the room as a playroom for the grandkids. He thought that was a great idea.

I posted all the equipment on KSL. No one wanted to buy it. Not even for half what it had cost. Each week, I lowered the price until it finally sold. It was bittersweet to get rid of it. Bitter because it had been so expensive, and sweet because now I could finally turn the room into a playroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went downstairs to start painting the room. When I walked past the living room, the missionaries were wrestling on the leather couches I had bought with my inheritance. I was about to ask them to stop because I didn’t want the loveseat or couch broken. Just then, I heard a noise. I went over to see what had happened. The couch was broken!

I had paid extra for the warranty. When I called the furniture store, they told me they would need the number on the receipt. Once they had that, they would send someone out to repair it.

Richard kept all the receipts locked up in his filing cabinet. I called him to ask where the key was. He told me he would unlock it when he got him from work.

When he got home, he said he would call the furniture store and give them the information they needed.

By the time he got around to it, the warranty had run out. <\/em>

I was so frustrated. I never had nice furniture before, and now the couch is broken.

I was getting tired of having the missionaries live with us. They liked to play with Nerf guns. They were destroying the ceiling tiles. Since there were so many things I was having a hard time with, I typed up a list of rules. I asked Richard to go over it with the missionaries so it wouldn’t be so hard for me to have them live with us, but he never did.

After that, every time a new missionary came to live with us, I would get out the paper and go over the rules with them.

Monday, February 1, 2016<\/strong>

Emma brought the grandkids over for their Danish lesson. I was worried about how it was going to go because I thought Emma didn’t like me.

As I was going over the lesson with them, Emma stayed and played the piano. I loved listening to her play. Especially since I have no musical abilities.

Emma and I didn’t say much to each other. Even though it was tense between us, I was glad she still came over.

Friday, February 12, 2016<\/strong>

Jared texted me to ask me if I mind watching their kids this weekend. Of course, I didn’t mind!

I have the playroom all painted. I have a rack set up filled with dress-up clothes. There are shelves with children’s books and a rocking chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I saw a Puppet Theater on Amazon, but it was expensive, so Johny helped me make my own. It turned out even better than the one you could buy.

I painted it white and got puppets for it. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I also had a play kitchen, complete with pretend food, pots, pans, and silverware. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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I found a lot of other fun toys at DI that I had washed and were ready to play with. I could hardly wait for the grandkids to come over tomorrow!

Saturday, February 13, 2016<\/strong>

The grandkids came over this morning. They loved the new playroom! We had so much fun together!

A few weeks ago, Jared and Emma gave me a queen-size bed and mattress they no longer needed. I had set it up in the guest room. When it was time for bed, the grandkids slept next to me on it.

Sunday, February 14, 2016<\/strong>

Richard posted on his Facebook page to wish me a Happy Valentine’s Day. The picture was taken the day we got engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I thought that was so sweet of him, and I was looking forward to going out on the nice date that he had promised me.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The grandkids came with us to church today. After church, we continued to have fun together. We played until their parent came and picked them up this evening.

After they left, I felt like I was the luckiest grandma in the world, and I couldn’t wait to see them again!

Richard told me that I got to watch the grandkids because Emma’s parents weren’t available. I didn’t care about the reason. I was just glad they were trusting me to watch them, and I was excited to have them come over for another sleepover!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, February 19, 2016<\/strong>

When Richard came home from work, he told me we couldn’t go out on a date, even though he had promised. Jared had asked him to come and help with remodeling his house.

I told him I would come and help. Richard said that Jared preferred I didn’t, because he and Emma felt I had gone overboard with the playroom for their kids. It had overwhelmed them. They felt I was trying to take their kids away from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got upset and was about to call Jared. Richard told me not to call because he would have a serious talk with Jared when he got there. He was going to do what he could to mend our relationship.

After he left, I cried hard. I couldn’t understand what was going on. But I was grateful that Richard was going to talk to Jared about it.

When Richard got home, I asked him how it went. He told me that it didn’t go well because Emma wouldn’t let him use the bathroom, so he had to pee outside. I told him it was a good thing that he didn’t have to poop while he was there. Richard said, “Yeah, I had worried about that too!” Then he said, “I just don’t understand why it has to be like this! But I did my best to help Jared understand that you have nothing against his wife and that you are not trying to take their kids away from them.”

I couldn’t understand why Jared had allowed his wife to treat his dad so disrespectfully. When I questioned it, Richard had felt bad about it too and mentioned it to Jared. Jared had told him he didn’t want any trouble with his wife, so that’s why he allowed it to happen. It sounded logical, so I believed it.

I asked Richard why he had stayed and helped remodel after getting treated like that. He said that he was doing it for Jared, hoping Jared’s relationship with us wouldn’t end because of his wife’s feelings towards us.

Monday, February 22, 2016<\/strong>

I thought for sure Emma wasn’t going to bring the grandkids over for their Danish lessons. But she did! Again, she and I didn’t say much to each other.

Every Monday, I kept hoping that things would start to get better. I thought as long as she kept coming on Mondays, there was hope for us. <\/em>

Monday, April 10, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got a new missionary. His name is Elder *M. He is so sweet, funny, respectful, and humble. His companion likes to sleep a lot, so he has been helping me in the yard. He has become like one of my own children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since we had so many rocks, Elder M. and his companion helped me move them to the front so people could pick them up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This picture is just a fraction of the rocks they helped me with.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, May 3, 2016
<\/strong>
Jared has been working on getting his pilot’s license because of his work. While I was working in the yard, I got a text from him.

It said he was flying overhead. He told me to look up so I could see him. When I looked up, I saw the plane and waved to it.

It was crazy for me to think that was my son flying just above me. It was awesome that we could share this moment! When Richard got home from work, I couldn’t wait to tell him about it.

Sunday, May 8, 2016<\/strong>

Jared and family came over to give me some plants for Mother’s Day. Emma said she knew how much I loved being in my backyard, so she thought this was something I could enjoy while I was there.

I had not expected that, because of the way they felt about me. I thought maybe they still wanted to make things work out between us, so I apologized for telling Bladen that it was her who didn’t like me. We hugged. I felt hopeful that everything would work out between us.

Jared told me that when he had flown above our house, he could see me waving to him. We both thought it was so cool!

I reminded him of when he was little: I used to tie a pillow to his butt when he went roller skating, so he wouldn’t get hurt if he fell. I told him it was kinda scary for me to think that I couldn’t tie a pillow on the plane in case it crashed. We both laughed about it.

After they left, Richard told me not to get my hopes up too high. He said, “After what Jared has told me about what Emma really feels about you, I am sure she is just acting for Jared’s sake. I am sure she won’t be able to keep up the fasaude.”

Monday, May 9, 2016<\/strong>

While I was working in the backyard, I got another text from Jared, telling me to look up. Again, I waved to him as he flew overhead.

Before Johny’s mission, he had bought me an iPod. He had even gotten it engraved, “I love you, Mom! Love Johny.” I had let him know I was grateful for it because I knew it had been expensive. At first, I didn’t know what to do with it because I didn’t know it worked.

When Johny came home from work, he asked me how I liked the iPod he had given me. I told him that I loved it! Then he looked at it and said, “But you haven’t even used it!” I wondered how he knew that. Then he said, did you know you can put apps on it? I had no clue what an app was, but it must be something exciting because of the way he said it. I didn’t want him to know that I had no clue what he was talking about, so I said, “Oh, I didn’t know that! That’s so cool!”

The next day, when Johny came home from work, he looked at the iPod again. He said, “You still haven’t used it!” This time, I had to admit, I had no clue what to do with it. Johny showed me how to download apps and how to use them. Before I knew it, my whole life was on that iPod.

I had the iPod in my pocket while I worked outside so I could listen to music. I also had my phone in my pocket in case anyone needed to get a hold of me. My phone was just a flip phone. I was still buying phone cards for it, so that I could use it.

When I was done working in the yard, I put my dirty pants in the washing machine. It was late, and I was tired. I had forgotten that both the iPod and my phone were in the pockets.

When I was done washing my clothes, I had ruined both the phone and the iPod. I felt awful! Johny told me to put them in a bowl of rice to see if I could save them. So I did, I even kept them for days, hoping I could save them.

Now, Jared had no way of letting me know if he was flying. Every time I heard a small plane, I would look up and wave.

Friday, May 13, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Richard got home from work today, he told me that Jared had texted him to come see him fly. Then he added, “You are not invited.” I asked, ” What do you mean? Why am I not invited?” Richard responded, “I don’t know, you should ask yourself that question!” I was so hurt and started to cry. Then I said if I am not invited, you shouldn’t go either. He answered, “It’s not my fault they don’t want you there. Why should I have to suffer for that?”

I was so hurt! I cried the rest of the evening.

Saturday, May 14, 2016<\/strong>

In the morning, after Richard went to be with Jared and his family, I called Jared on the home phone to ask him why I wasn’t invited. But no one answered, I figured it was because he didn’t want to talk to me, so I didn’t leave a message.

I found out 5 years later when Richard met up with Jared and his family, Jared had asked his dad why I wasn’t there. Richard had told him I didn’t want to come because I didn’t like his <\/em>

Because of this day, there were hurt feelings among Jared, his wife, and me. It helped Richard to be able to create even more tension between us.

<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n




<\/p>\n\n\n\n




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Monday, January 11, 2016, During December, I have an Elf on the Shelf out for my grandkids when they come over. When we least expect it, the Elf gets into mischief or does something funny. Bladen named him Sam. It’s so cute to see how they react to Sam when he does something silly. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18895"}],"version-history":[{"count":226,"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19142,"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18895\/revisions\/19142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annemettehowland.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}