Chapter 15 - WHY WESTON DIDN’T STOP HIM This took therapy to understand.
Not excuse.
Understand.
Weston felt judged by Harlan throughout adulthood.
Wrong career at first.
Wrong house.
Too many takeout meals.
Not enough discipline.
Cecily too attached to me.
Weston too willing to “negotiate with a child.”
When Harlan began taking toys, Weston disagreed but also felt something dangerous:
Relief.
Cecily sometimes behaved better at Grandpa’s house afterward.
Fewer tantrums.
Quieter.
More immediate obedience.
Weston mistook suppression for maturity.
Because Harlan had trained him to do the same thing.
When Weston said:
“Dad, stop,”
Harlan answered:
“You want her crying to Mommy at fifteen because somebody hurt her feelings?”
Weston wanted to prove he was not weak.
So he allowed something he knew I would forbid.
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He called it compromise.
It was secrecy.
