preschool. You are not allowed to take my children anywhere without Amy or me present. You will not make decisions about their appearance, their activities, or their lives without our explicit permission.”
“Mark, I’m their grandmother—”
“And you abused that privilege. These are the consequences.”
“Robert, are you going to let him talk to me like this?”
Mark’s father looked at his wife with an expression I couldn’t read.
“Brenda, you took that boy out of school and cut his hair without permission. While his sister was fighting cancer. What did you think was going to happen?”
Brenda started crying. “I didn’t know about the promise! Nobody told me!”
“You didn’t ask!” I said, my voice rising. “You spent two years watching Lily fight for her life and you never once asked why Leo’s hair was important to him!”
“I thought you were just being permissive parents—”
“So you decided
