Switching Genres

I think most people would classify my life as a comedy, simply b/c there is almost always some hair-brained thing goin' on around here that will bring on a case of the chuckles. After last night, however, my life has taken a decided turn from comedy to disaster movie. One of those flicks where everyone is screaming and running in a blind panic.

After getting deluged with rain for the last few days, to the point where I was starting to pair up my animals and get out the lumber, we finally had some drop-dead gorgeous weather. The kind the kids wanted to go out and play in, instead of going on threat of consequences if they didn't get their butts off the couch and get some fresh air, dammit.

So for a few treasured moments I had the house to myself as my young ones frolicked and cavorted outside, riding bikes and scooters, drawing pictures in the driveway, playing a little basketball. I was starting to prepare dinner and review in my head the list of evening's activities, including Karate for Julie, homework and studying with Bella, and taking James to his "job" where he tutors a friend of ours in Russian. Mentally planning what preparations were needed for our trip out of state day after tomorrow for my father-in-law's funeral. Relatively simple, quiet night.
Until all hell broke loose.

Seems Patrick and James were playing outside and started having one of those knuckle-headed Boys Will Be Boys Moments. They HAVE NOT and probably WILL NEVER learn that if one gives tit, the other gives tat and it's done. Even-Steven, game over. No. Tit, tat. Schmit, schmat, and on and on it escalates up the ladder till they've reached the precarious top rung and there's no turning back. And so it went yesterday, and they followed/chased each other inside and fists were flying in my kitchen.

To sweeten the pot, the last few weeks Patrick has been walking around with this broken bat. It's split in half, top to bottom (I don't even want to know how it happened or where it came from). He's been walking around with it like a tot with his Blankie for some indeterminate Testosterone-based reason. So of course, when he took an outraged swing at James' head, bat connected with skull. James of course swung back and I threw myself headfirst into the frey. I broke them apart like a diminutive ref between two prizefighters. As I sent them to their separate corners and tried to process what just happened, I glanced at the floor and saw blood. A good bit.
"Who's bleeding?", I bellowed. Patrick had gone upstairs, but James was in the next room and came back in, bleeding pretty heavily down his ear and face and neck. Blood splatter covered his shirt and shorts. I sat him down and tried to find the wellspring beneath his thick curls. When I finally discovered it I did a silent-film star knuckles-biting gasp and grabbed my keys.

Instead of going to Fred's hospital, which is more than a half hour away, I opted for our little local hospital, which is about a 5 minute drive. I figured I didn't have Fred as leverage anyway since he was right then attending a conference as far away from us he could be and still be in the continental US.
But I should have gone to Christiana.

After James was seen by the triage nurse, we waited over three hours in the waiting room before we were taken back for treatment. Poor James was dizzy and hurt, but at least the bleeding had stopped. After a bit, he lay his head in my lap to rest and I began pulling the strands of blood-soaked hair away so I could get a better look at the incision. The people in the chairs across from us saw his wound and reacted with horror (see silent movie star reference above). Naturally they wanted to know what happened. Now, I'm all for honesty in my kids, but a measure of discretion would be a good thing, too, as I soon learned when my youngest yelled out for all in the lobby to hear, "My brother hit him with a BAT!"

Can you say White Trash? Can you say Reality TV? Not that it mattered, for I soon learned that my daughter had been texting with blinding speed, sending out all the gory, embarassing details for all the world to read about on Facebook. Great.

While we were waiting, the kids were getting antsy, so I told them they could go outside to walk around. It's a very rural area. The hospital has a hitching post for God's sake. I'm not kidding. So I thought it would do them some good to get some sunshine. But at one point when I was trying to get a visual on my youngest, I couldn't spot him anywhwere. I told my daughters to sit with James and I ran outside, calling his name, looking in my car and behind the pine trees. He was nowhere. So I ran back inside and over to the window where the clerk or nurse had checked us in and very calmly said,
"I CAN'T FIND MY SON!!!!!!!"

To which she replied
(and here I pause for effect)

"Oh, wow, I don't know what to tell ya' "

I was speechless in dismay for almost a full heartbeat and then sedately asked her if perhaps she couldn't

CALL A SECURITY OFFICER!

Luckily my brain's editing faculties were in full working order or it might have been neccessary to clean up that quote.

But just then Daniel walked in. I checked myself from throttling him (we were, after all, in the presence of medical and law professionals) and asked him where the bleep he had gone off to.

"Well, you told me I could go for a walk, so I walked around the building".
I wasn't kidding when I said it's a small, rural hospital.
So glad he stopped to consider my SANITY before he decided to walk around the building.

Anyway, crisis resolved, we went back to waiting. Fianlly, to relieve our boredom I think, they called us back to an exam room, just for kicks. There we waited some more, with my natives growing more and more restless (and hungry and thirsty) by the second. Just for consistency's sake they decided which chair was the Good Spot, started calling it, then fighting over it.

At long last they started an examination and began sending James off for x-rays and CT scans. It all took a while, but at least things were finally getting accomplished. More than six hours from when we walked in, we walked out of the ER. James had a large head laceration with 15 staples holding it together, and a Retaliation Fracture of the 3rd metacarpal of his right hand. His head was bandeaged up like a mummy and he was sporting a splint and sling on his arm.
I drove the kids to the McDonald's drive-thru for burgers (they were open -- there is a God in Heaven) and then finally home.

It was just before midnight.


After I put the kids to bed I promptly went into the game room and unplugged the X-Box and set it by the steps to take up later and secure away under lock and key. When Patrick saw it this morning, he asked why it was out there. I replied, in a simple and understated way, "Because of last night".

"But WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?!"

This time, I was speechless for more than a heartbeat.

An angel flies in ....

...an old soul flies out.

My baby sister had her first baby on Sunday. A beautiful and healthy little boy, and we are all rejoicing in this new life added to our family.

Sadly, a week and a day later, Fred's Dad passed away.

Evan, we all love you and can't wait to watch you grow.
Henry, Dad, Pop, Pop-Pop, we will all miss you. Thanks for bringing my husband into this world. Without you, there are so many wonderful people that would not be here today. Godspeed as you join you wife and daughters.

Welcome Baby Evan!

I'm an aunt! Well, I'm an aunt for about the 16th time, but still, I'm an aunt!

My baby sister Veronica had her 1st baby on Sunday. He was born by c-section, but mother and baby are both doing well.

Now, what do I like better, Aunt Anne or Auntie Annie?

The Good Spot

In this household, there are many things the kids feel are worthy of fighting for. I'm not talking valiant, virtuous issues such as honoring the family name, defending the home from would-be intruders, or joining up with the military to fight for our country. I'm talking about who gets control of the remote. Who gets to use the bathroom first. How long of a turn they get on X-Box.

But my favorite of these spats is when they fight over The Good Spot. This, of course, refers to the favored spot on the sofa. The part with the extended seat so they can pretty much watch TV from a completely reclined position, as if watching TV sitting upright is just too physically taxing an activity to be endured.

Last night I had to stop making dinner, quickly don my black and white striped shirt, throw a whistle around my neck, and stride confidently into the family room to settle a heated debate over who had rightfully laid claim to The Good Spot. If I gave them each a flag with their name and crest emblazoned on it, there would be flags staked all over the GD house laying claim to various fixtures and spots. This particular debate ended up escalating into a full-on brawl, despite my best skills as seasoned referee. There were slippers being hurled through the air, whole pieces of furniture being relocated, and name-calling that would make a pirate blush.
When a peaceful resolution continued to elude us, I finally tore off my ref shirt and changed into my Mean Mom uniform. Eyes ablaze with a look they didn't want to mess with, I yelled out, "That's enough! No more TV for any of you the REST OF THE NIGHT!" They shut up then. They could tell by looking at me that it was drop it then and there or listen to me lecture (ie, rant and rave) till the sun came up. Or the cows came home. And we don't have any cows.

I remember when the term The Good Spot conjured images that involved pleasurable activities that would, um, make a pirate blush. Now it has taken on a whole new meaning.

Not at all pleasurable.

Reporting on the Positive ....

I believe I'm guilty of writing more about the negative aspect of life with James than the positive. So in an effort to redeem myself, I'm taking a minute to report a positive.

James has a scar. Well, James has many scars, but one in particular that he's been elusive about. Though I've inquired about its origins many a time, he's never told me in the year plus that he's been with us. But the other night I was spending some quiet time with him reading and talking. It was quiet and cozy, and he finally just looked up at me and told me he wanted to tell me how he got his scar. And so he proceeded to lay out for me this chapter in his traumatic past. It was private, so I won't share the story except to say it involved James being hospitalized, and that there was a very good reason these kids were taken to the orphanage. But I will say that it was a very special moment between us. A moment of trust and reaching out. Yet another step forward in this long march we have before us.

When he was done telling the story, we looked at each other for a long while. With tears in my eyes, I reached down and kissed the scar on his forehead, then told him I was sorry.
"Why you sorry? You not did anything"
"I'm sorry because you're my kid. And you got hurt, and I couldn't do anything about it."

He continued to look at me quizzically for a moment, then he just smiled a gentle smile, and a look of understanding passed over his face.

I think he's starting to get it ....

A Strange Night ....

Last night our family went to the rescheduled Chinese New Year's celebration over at the University of DE. Now, I'm all for exposing my kids to culture, but I'll admit the reason for this venture was because Daniel's Kung Fu school would be participating, and Daniel would be on stage with the group showing off their prowess with their "Arrowhand Set". The festivities were kicked off with a fantastic Lion Dance (like a Chinese Dragon), complete with big drums and all, performed by some of the higher-ups at Daniel's school.
After that, things slowed to a droning halt when the MCs went through a long list of who-all they wanted to thank and recognize for the evening's events. Including Ping and his twin brother Ming. They ended by saying, "Unfortunately, we cannot thank everyone individually ..."
Honestly, I think we were the only ones there not thanked.

They went on to showcase some dancers and musical performers that were at times incredible, at times .... really strange. Including an older woman who seemed like a VIP and was simply God-awful first on the violin and then with her torturing performance on the mandolin when she played Turkey in the Straw. You know, the culturally relevant number Turkey in the Straw.

One of the funniest parts of the evening was when the Mayor of Newark took the stage to make some remarks. Dressed like an 80s preppy with a navy blazer and whales on his pants and looking very distinguished with his silver locks, he opened his mouth to reveal his terribly strong Philly accent, hon. He had a gift for the president of the sponsoring society and he pulled it out of a run-down looking red shopping bag. He went on to say that he was going to bring a white bag but his wife told him he'd better be politically correct and bring the red bag. He then thanked the Chinese people for naming their New Year after his cat, Tiger. He finally commented on just how nice the Chinese students were and how glad he was to have them in hs community. Said he sees them around town, "Riding their bicycles, walking ... just really ... nice".

As probably the only white people in the audience, we did feel a bit left out of the loop when the MCs would banter with each other in Chinese and the audience would just laugh and laugh.

But it was .... interesting. And fun. And we shared a lot of laughs on the car ride out to get Dairy Queen afterwards.

To Daniel: great job on yours and your school's performance last night.
To the Chinese people: a happy and prosperous year of the tiger.
To my family: thanks for allowing me to expose you to a little culture without threatening mutiny.

It's the "new pregnancy"

I've decided that dealing with an RAD child is a lot like a pregnancy. When you're going through it, all you can focus on is the negative. Oh, once in awhile you have those "becoming one with your baby" moments when you get the kicks and wiggles and such. But for the most part, it's swollen ankles, achy backs, peeing 4,000 times a day, and stretch marks popping up in new places every day. And the actual labor/delivery? Please, I don't even want to go there.

But of course, once your little peanut is born all is forgotten. You certainly don't hold a grudge against your baby, not when they're newborn, not when they're a teenager. Seems all the wonderful parts about being a Mommy simply sweep away all the horrific parts of being pregnant and delivering a 9 pound baby through an opening that is normally the diameter of a pencil. But then you get pregnant again and it all comes flooding back and you think to yourself, "am I a cotton-pickin' lunatic?!"

And so it is with an adopted child with Reactive Attachment Disorder. We have so many wonderful moments. Times at night when he's lying on the sofa with his head on my lap and I'm patting his face and smoothing his hair. He closes his eyes and looks like a puppy getting a belly rub. If he ever had a loving mother's caress, I'm sure it has faded to a distant memory by now, and so he just soaks it up. Or times he helps out because he wants to help out, or asks for a story while we're out driving somewhere. I need to hold onto those thoughts with all the fortitude I can muster, b/c when things get bad I feel miserable.

Like last night. He was mad at me because I wouldn't allow him to use my computer b/c of some disrespectful and obnoxious behavior. So in retaliation for me taking the mouse and hiding it away somewhere, he took my keys. Yes, my car keys, and he hid them and wouldn't give them back till this morning. He thought it was tit for tat, though I explained to him that though I hadn't taken anything of his, he had taken something of mine. Times like those, all you want to do is throttle, but all you can do is try to have the patience of all the saints in Heaven. I have long since learned that threats and loss of privilege don't work with this kid, which goes against all my experience. Time and space and not getting drawn in are the only things that seem to eventually bring us right again. But it ain't easy. I'm used to having the upper hand. I don't very much care for the lower hand.

I'll take stretch marks over this anyday.