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February 10, 2006
Frazzled
I went to my grandparents house for the evening to see my mother and my uncle and his wife. I meet my mom over there every week or so, but my uncle is in town from Texas. Rex had a test and some quizzes, so he escaped the horror that ensued. I think I'm going to list the issues by subject, rather than on a timeline.
1. Jamie must have gone potty at least a dozen times today. She tends to be a little constipated at times, and will often have a "false alarm" potty run before she goes for real. Even I was starting to wonder if there was something else going on, when my grandmother brought up the issue. At the dinner table. While we were *eating*. My grandmother is a woman who has always been rather highbrow and refined. Me, I tend to be a bit crass. But even I wasn't real keen on discussing my daughters bowel issues at the dinner table.
2. My grandfather tried to feed Katie triple chocolate cake. While my mother and I were yelling, "NO!" I swooped in got the cake when it was half in her mouth. This is the same man who on several occasions has awakened Jamie from hard-won naps, also to a whispered chorus of no's.
3. Jamie had a couple tantrums during dinner. She wanted more meat, I wanted her to eat some of the other food on her plate, which she had already tried and not declared repulsive. I took her into the living room and told her she could come back when she calmed down. After one false start, she seemed to be ok. The she had to make yet another potty run, and knocked over her glass of water. You would have thought she spilled boiling oil on her lap for all the screeching. My mom backed me up on all this. I think everyone else at the table thought I should give in to the little terrorist and let her know that she would own me, as long as company was present. Fuck that!
4. Kidly naplessness. Jamie actually asked to watch Blue's Clues while we were there, likely becuase she was tired and (holy crap!) asking to be put down. My mom laid down with her for a while, but we had to wake her up for dinner. I suspect that prompted some of the tantruminess, since Jamie wakes up from naps cranky in general, and worse when she's forcefully woken. I never did get Katie to fall asleep during the five and a half hours we were there.
5. This one probably isn't my grandmother's fault. Her memory is going, and she often asks the same questions or repeats herself. But I can't even count the number of times she offered food for Katie, even while I was feeding her. Some of her repeats were too close together to be forgetfullness. NO means NO, people.
6. I was in a fog. About the time I left our house, I started feeling tired. Foggy, everything seems to be happening from a bit of a distance, sort of like a buzz groggy.
All in all, it wasn't that bad of a visit, but I feel like I went through the ringer.
Posted by me at February 10, 2006 8:58 PM