Sistah Pat

DH is reading the paper. Tells me teachers in a district in Texas now have permission to carry guns in school. In Houston, a three year old died of heat stroke after his mother left him in her car and worked her 9 hour shift. I think I’ll skip reading the paper this morning.

Holly came over a few minutes after 8:00 last night and was down in the dumps because DS and DIL were argueing. She was whiney and clingy and I finally decided to take her out to spend the night in the RV. That cheered her up and we snuggled up in the bedroom and watched Narnia for the kazillionth time.

I get so effing angry with Mom and Dad and their refusal to put the kids first. DIL decided on the spur of the moment that she wanted to go out with boyfriend last night so she pops in on DS without any advance notice and tells him he has to watch Holly. DS gets his back up and tells her she needs to let him know in advance when she wants him to watch her. DIL gets mad and grabs Holly’s hand and says, “Come on, you’ll have to go with me because your father doesn’t want you here.” DS is saying, “I don’t mind watching her, I just don’t like the games you’re playing. You can’t just drop her off without asking whenever you feel like it.” DIL marches out the door screaming “eff yous” in front of the kids. DS calls her and she brings Holly back a few minutes later but Holly’s a basket case and doesn’t want to stay. Her reaction is to cry and whine and call DIL on the phone and beg her to pick her up with sobbing and tears and all the drama she can muster. She doesn’t want to be with DS and he’s chatting on his phone and preoccupied and just shutting her out. I finally took her out to the RV where she tells me she doesn’t want to stay with Daddy because Mommy said Daddy doesn’t love her or want her and Daddy thinks she’s a brat and she gets on his nerves.

Solutions:

DIL should recognize that she can’t just make plans without making arrangements for Holly.

DS should realize that DIL may just need a little spontaneity every once in a while and not make a big deal of it.

DS should welcome Holly with open arms and take up the issue with DIL at a later time when the kids aren’t around.

DIL should keep her big mouth shut and not say anything that pops into her head when she’s angry.

DIL should NEVER shoot off her mouth and make her children think DS doesn’t want them or love them just because it makes her look better.

Under the circumstances, DS should get off the phone and spend some quality time with Holly doing damage control.

Long story short…Holly and I went to the RV and “partied”. She ate the Mickey D’s chicken nuggets, french fries, and cookies, a whole bag of potato chips, more cookies, and drank most of a 2-liter Coke that Mom packed for her. Note: this was between 9:00 and 10:00. I watched her stuff her face non-stop for a while and then took all her “goodies” away from her when she calmed down. She wasn’t real happy about that because mommy said she could have the whole bag for herself. What else did Mom bring? There were still 3 candy bars, a package of Cheetos, and a box of Little Debbie cakes. WTF???? She’s lying on the bed in a prone position cramming stuff in her mouth and making little sighs of pleasure punctuated with occasional, “Nana, this is soooo yummy! Want some?” comments. A blind man could see what they’re doing to this child.

Came in this morning to see that the kitchen is spotless. Courtesy of DS who obviously knows he’s in the sh8thouse with me. Mr. Scale says I’m at 171 but I think I have at least two pounds of tension on my shoulders.

DH traded my phone in for a Blackberry. He’s all excited about my new “phone” capabilities of internet access, digital camera, text messaging, games, voice command, etc. and wants me to “figure it out”. Sounds like a lot of work to me. I just want to be able to make a phone call when I need to.

2:15 - In keeping with the crappy mood I’m in, I’ve decided to have a totally “off” day. I went to see Habitat Guy and he cheered me up with a car full of flowers for $9.00. Most of them are annuals and I probably won’t see much action from them but I picked up quite a few perennials that are past bloom for this year but will keep me happy for years to come. He had some huge Bradford Pear trees (about 12 to 15 feet high) that he was asking $10 for but he said he’d let me have them for $5 each. I kicked the idea around. I can’t use them here but I’d love to have them for Florida. Still…how would I get them down there? I guess I should have bought them and kept them here until DS had a trip down toward Florida and could take them to the property for me. Next time, I’ll be ready and have a plan. I need to set up a “holding area” in the back of the yard to keep things until I head to Florida.

I feel like doo-doo! I’ve never had any particular problems with allergies until the last year or so but either I’m getting a cold or having an allergy encounter. Either way, I feel like crap. Stopped by Red Box and rented two DVDs and I’m going to take my poor bod out to the RV and just relax and watch movies. Don’t want any phone calls, no visitors, no demands made on me for the rest of the day. How’s that for a crappy attitude?

4:15 - Miss Pat is a cranky ass old bitch! I’m trying to chill out by working in my garden out front and every daggone kid in the neighborhood is in my face. God knows, I’m a big time kid advocate and would cut off my right arm before I’d hurt any of them but there are days when Miss Pat just does not feel like being around kids.

“Miss Pat, I like your flowers.”

“Thank you.”

Why don’t you plant some more yellow ones? I like them. My favorite color is yellow. I think you should plant some more of those yellow ones. Okay? Okay, Miss Pat. Okay??? Miss Pat, I think you should plant some more yellow ones, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll put some more yellow ones in. Go and play now and let Miss Pat work in the garden, okay?”

“Okay, I like the yellow ones. Yellow is my favorite color. What’s your favorite color, Miss Pat? Huh? What’s your favorite color? Do you like yellow? That’s my favorite. What’s your favorite color, Miss Pat? Huh???”

“Black. Go ride your bike now and let Miss Pat work, okay?”

“Black????!! Your favorite color is black, Miss Pat? That’s funny! You’re funny, Miss Pat! Is that your favorite color? My favorite color is yellow. I think you should plant some more yellow flowers, Miss Pat. I’ll go get them for you. Do you want me to get some of the yellow flowers, Miss Pat? I’ll get them for you. Yellow is my favorite color. What’s your favorite color, Miss Pat? Huh? Huh????”

I think I’m going to work out back.