By the way Kriston describes this one, it seems as if the parent has made a decision prior that DS is too young. Some people can asess when they've made a wrong pre-assumption and change tack quickly. Some can't. I didn't get the impression that this woman was particularly self-aware in this aspect.
Yup. In fact, every time I tried to discuss that I was seeing her ignoring DS7 when he did talk, that was when she interrupted me. She was not at all open to the idea that she had written him off.
You're definitely calling it as I see it, 'Neato. Her mind is closed. And DS7 just isn't going to go toe-to-toe with her yet. It's not in him now.
Will it be in him in 3 years, as she keeps insisting? Maybe. Though his personality isn't necessarily the sort to have him duking it out. If it's not annoying him, he might just let it happen, and if it is annoying him, he's just as likely to leave as he is to stand up for himself. DH and I both have very low thresholds for conflict, and we don't have any problem with deciding it isn't worth it (as we did with the public schools and we are doing now!).
Is that good, bad or indifferent? I don't know. But it is how we're wired. DS7 is wired the same way. I suspect he'd tolerate it until he couldn't, and then he'd either fight it or leave--and if he's like us, it's about 50-50 which one he'd pick.
