"So... your father is patriarchal to the point where he's taken being the "man of the house" to the point where he's essentially dominating the entire house hold?" Frances asked, "Your mother and sister included?"
"He's been that way with all of us," Jenny answered, "and in an odd way... mom kinda ran the same way..."
"Does he abuse her?" Frances asked.
"Not that I've seen... but she doesn't challenge him, either," Jenny explained as she looked to Frances and felt herself sink into Harry's arms, "It's like she's either been more terrified of him than we were or worse... he found a woman that agrees with him with regard to that sort of opinion on where a woman's place."
Frances sighed heavily and nodded. That would be a problem and to a degree it wasn't necessarily an unforeseen problem. While a good many women throughout history may have wanted more than just stay at home and have children for her husband, that didn't mean that that applied to every woman. Some woman had taken great pride in the positions they occupied and even today there were women who truly did support causes that in Frances' opinion would limit the rights women as a whole. If Jenny's mother fell into that category, it was likely that she would agree with her husband's opinion.
"And that could be rough," Frances commented, "but, recognizing the behavior is a good step. Much like recognizing what your fears are... it's realizing what is being used against you."
"I do kinda feel better... just letting it all out," Jenny said weakly, "It's like I've carried that within me for years."
"Well now its out," Harry said from beside her, his arms pulling her into a strong hug, "and now to show that arrogant ass just how wrong he is."
"Changing his mind isn't really going to be the point of this," Frances commented, "Unless the two of you intend to go to Alabama together or you intend to ask Akane to help your family to move here where dealing with them as a whole will be more frequent."
"I wouldn't mind having my sis or my oldest brother here," Jenny commented, "Janice is very sweet... once you get through her shy side... and James Jr. has been a gentle soul. He may agree on issues related to discipline... but being physical never sat right with him and we've talked privately when we could... he does agree that mom and dad had gone beyond discipline and into borderline abuse territory. There were times when he took the switch because he didn't want to see the rest of us take things he didn't see as just."
"Sounds rather noble," Frances commented.
"More that he found the right friends outside the home," Jenny answered, "and maybe taking "do onto others as they would do onto you" to heart. Anyway... I wouldn't mind having Janice or James Jr. here... but John... John was always rather distant from me, and I wouldn't know if he'd want to come... and my parents... absolutely not... not unless there is a massive change in their personality."
Frances nodded, "which then makes our efforts to build up your confidence and realize that your father is wrong and that YOU are RIGHT."
Jenny nodded as Frances stood up from her chair and placed the puppets on the desk for a moment. As she turned back to Jenny and Harry, she made a motion with her arms to urge both young werefoxes to stand up. Frances then gestured for them to a deep breath and raised her hands from her waist up to her chest as she breathed in and then lowered them back down to her waist as she breathed out. She smiled smiled as Jenny and Harry both began to go through the same practice exercise.
"Now... having some logical ideas for why you've made your decision will help, but logic will only work for you if you can work up the confidence to confront him directly and say "no" to him," Frances began, "That's really what we want to work on... building your confidence, as that is going to be the big thing. I think you're really coming through the post-transformation stress quite well, which is good..."
"But the wedding and my family forces things," Jenny finished, sensing what was coming next.
Frances nodded, "because based on what you've told me... is that while you may want to get away from the stresses that your family has put on you, you do want your family's respect for your choices. That will require building the strength of confidence to stand up to your parents, particularly your father and state your opinion. No reason you have to stay here will work until you can stand up to him."
Jenny nodded.
"You can't use Harry for this... doing that MAY actually make him like Harry more, but it would do YOU no good," Frances continued, "This must come from you."
Jenny nodded again. It felt good to have Harry's support, but she did agree that she would have to stand up to her father on her own.
"Now, this may be something that's going to be more practice you can do on your own," Frances spoke, "but it is something I want you to try..."
"Okay..." Jenny answered.
"You take a deep breath and you state clearly and firmly," Frances began, "I am Jennifer Harper soon to be Jennifer Jenkins, and I am my own person."
"I am Jennifer Harper, soon to be Jennifer Jenkins," Jenny repeated, "and I am my own person."
"Firmer," Frances instructed.
"I am Jennifer Harper, soon to be Jennifer Jenkins," Jenny again repeated the mantra but with greater vigor this time, "and I am my own person!"
With that, Frances sat back down with a bit of smile, "I want you to practice that as much as you can. Make it your mantra to play in the back of your mind. You know that the way your father was raised and thus how he has approached parenting is wrong. He has no right to force you to do anything, particularly now that you are a legal adult."
Jenny nodded as she sat back down.
"And remember, the smarts you gained to earn your scholarships," Frances continued, "the love you've found with Harry... that is all YOU, not him. You should have every reason to be confident in your own abilities."
"You're right," Jenny admitted. She knew that already, but stating what she'd been afraid to say about her father had in a way gotten a great weight off her chest and with it came some greater understanding on where her successes came from. "That was all me..."
She felt Harry give her hand a loving squeeze.
"And once you can stand up to him," Frances continued, "we can begin to apply the various skills to demonstrate that your decision wasn't a bad one..." Frances paused while Jenny nodded and then proceed to ask, "Now... what would be some logical reasons to stay in Moon Lake. Remember these are the logical reasons. We want to avoid emotional or answers that might relate to the town's secret."
"Well..." Jenny said slowly, "they did already agree to accept my coming to college here and I only just started this fall. So I still have four years to complete. If I drop out... while I could reapply to other colleges, the loans I took out for Moon Lake would immediately come due and I would lose all the scholarships that I'd earned to come to Moon Lake. In that sense they'd end up paying for two college educations if I get accepted anywhere else."
"Understandable... and might work with their economic concerns," Frances commented.
Jenny raised a finger to her chin, scratching at it softly. After a moment another idea came to her.
"And this may relate a bit... but it isn't exactly as though I want my family "in the gutter" as it were," Jenny answered, "it's entirely possible that if successful... I could provide my folks with some means of help, which I'm sure Harry would be willing to work with... which would be far more than what I'd expect out of Dieter. There's plenty that he's "offered" my folks, but none of it would be concrete and nearly all of it's been conditional. So it isn't like he's truly helping them."
"That may help," Frances said slowly, "but you'd need to be careful with that. As if they're looking for a way out of the gutter and looking for a quick way out of the gutter... you may not be able to give them enough to allow for that and live well yourself. Their economic fortune is going to be largely up to them."
Jenny nodded.
"And that also isn't much of a logic based argument as it is placing a carrot in front of them to accept your decision in exchange for financial support," Frances warned, "they should accept your decision without compensation. Offering them compensation doesn't fit logically. Logic would be more that they have to accept a set premise and thus the actions that follow. Such as that they agreed to allow you to come to college here and meeting Harry and falling in love was the result. They may have some right to the way some issues came about, but the fact that they came about cannot be contested... as you did have permission to come to Moon Lake."
"Maybe you could present Moon Lake as a way for you to build more independent life skills, which I'd assume you'd still have to take care of in Alabama at some point... if you'd stayed down there," Harry commented, "that being here would be good for you in the long run."
"That is workable," Frances commented, "and with the rest could give you perfectly logical reasons to stay here."
Frances then checked her watch for a moment and saw eleven o'clock approaching rapidly. There wasn't much more that they could work on in this session, but she did think she'd gotten a good response out of Jenny in that she recognized some of the specific problems that she faced. Knowing what one was dealing with was always a good thing and would help Jenny grow stronger. The rest would simply be on the ways with which Jenny could stand up to her folks.
"Though... I think we've covered all that we can for now," Frances then finished, "now... for "homework," Jenny, I want you to work on that mantra. Identify who you are and that you are your own person and no one else's. Say if firmly and say it confidently. And work with it until it becomes second nature. It is who you are and your father cannot change that. Okay?"
"Okay," Jenny spoke in reply.
"Very well," Frances nodded, "we'll keep up with some tests to see how your self-confidence is growing with each session. If you don't think it's working... we'll talk out a way that you think will work."
Jenny nodded.