Sweets was a handful this weekend. She wasn't able to come last weekend, so she had been at her dad's with virtually no rules and minimal sleep for almost two weeks, compounded with the first two weeks of school. I was able to pick her up earlier than expected on Friday afternoon, but her aunt told me she had been misbehaving with some of the other kids earlier in the week. Her aunt didn't tell her dad, because she knows Sweets listens more to me and her dad just gets mad. Unfortunately, her dad overheard and got mad anyway. She was still allowed to come with me, since I was already there.
It started on the way home as she complained about being hungry, but then didn't like any of the options for dinner. I think she just needed to vent. Her legs were covered in bug bites and she had scratched one place almost raw. I told her she needed to take a shower as soon as we got home so I could put medicine on her legs and hopefully they would stop itching. She fussed about the shower. She fussed about every topic that came up. I should have seen the signs and just put her to bed quickly Friday night, but I didn't.
Saturday came and it started again while we were getting portraits of Precious. Sweets did well until Buddy wanted attention too. Then the two of them escalated, couldn't keep their hands to themselves, gave dirty looks, and said mean things. Sweets also gave BB anything and everything he wanted, just to make him happy. This included candy at breakfast time, snacks without asking, and Buddy's DS player. So now all three of them were upset as things got corrected. Thankfully, May was helpful, but she was frustrated too.
Later in the day, as I took the kids to meet friends to go bowling, Sweets decided she didn't want to participate. Then she did; then she didn't. I finally lashed out at her and her comeback (not that it hadn't been said earlier) was that she wished she didn't come with me and she never wanted to come back. Ugh! How that rips your heart out when you know it isn't true but you can feel her hurt.
She improved a little during dinner, mostly thanks to May. But she was on the edge the rest of the evening. By then she was just pushing my buttons left and right. I was able to get her in bed by 9pm and she slept over ten hours straight. She needed that so much!
Today was a better day. It wasn't great, but it was definitely better. Church went well and both Sweets and Buddy enjoyed Sunday School. The sermon was about service and how that was what Jesus asked of us. It was mentioned that the jr/sr high youth group is focusing on various service projects this fall. It is a shift in focus after hiring an associate pastor to lead the youth. Several other church youth groups are investing in multimedia and other high tech draws to build their youth groups. It is refreshing to me that ours is not focused on that. It is even better that May agrees!
Lunch was spaghetti with homemade sauce, Sweets' favorite. That helped too. I did make everyone rest for a while during BB's nap. Sweets and Buddy managed to get along for a while after that.
This evening we had a nice time swimming at the house of the friend Buddy made during our Alaska cruise. It is still unbelievable to me that Buddy and this friend hit it off on the cruise (with only seven kids age 8-12 on the whole ship) and the friend's family lives about four miles from Sweets! This family is great with very similar values to ours. In addition to Buddy's friend, they have a four year old daughter that played well with BB. It was nice to relax.
Sweets went home well after that. She was in a much better mood and was looking forward to coming back next Friday. I think we will go to bed early that night! Her dad was in a good mood when I dropped her off and even asked if I might take Lil Sis to go see her aunt and uncle next weekend. This is a very positive development. Of course, I'm realistic that this could change at any time, but let's hope for a good weekend next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment