Just a small example of how hard it is to parent the children with Charlie around. She is always listening and undermining others conversations with the children.
Today Sam asked if she could take a scone in her school lunch, I jokingly told a story about how the scones were special and not just for any old lunch. The children love a crazy story.
Every time I said the word ‘scone’ with my accent. Charlie in the next room would call out ‘scone’ in her accent. The same as how grass or garage have different pronunciation depending on your accent. It is just unnecessary.
When I later see the children out of control around the house I know it’s because they don’t have clear authority and boundaries. Charlie undermines all my efforts to be consistent and clear with them. She is too disorganised herself to enforce her own. It is not like I even care how the children pronounce some words with common variations. But the pettiness of Charlie is taking away what the children need as they grow up.