Repeat

I'm going to repeat a little (most?) of what I wrote last night, just for a complete record of the weekend. If you are reading this, I'm not senile! The children were here this weekend. This is how it went:

Well...where to start?
Nathan and Kendra had the children here at 10:30 Saturday morning. Meg was supposed to show at 11:00. At about 11:10, I received an email from her saying that she was running late and would be here by noon. The children were all excited. Ryan insisted that we set the timer for noon, then watched the timer like a hawk. He would go to the door and yell at Robin, "Nine more minutes!" "Three more minutes!" "As soon as the timer beeps, grab your shoes and your coat and run out the door to meet Mommy!" Well...Mommy didn't show up right at noon. It was more like 12:15...and the children were outside waiting impatiently. When the car finally did roll in, they practically mobbed it.

I had fixed what my school lunch program called a "walking taco". That is all the taco fixings, but put on Frito-like corn chips instead of a tortilla or taco shell. The kids love it and most of it can be made ahead of time. We all sat down to eat. I also had a corned beef in the crock pot for supper--Robin's favorite.

After lunch, Meg decided to take Ryan to Cookie Cutters for a haircut. Robin and I went to Walmart to return some shoes that I had purchased for her that she said hurt her feet. (We also got some acrylic paint for a treasure box project. More on that later.) The plan was to meet up later when we all returned so that we could swap kids so Megan and Robin could go winter coat shopping (for Robbie). While we were in Walmart, Megan called to ask me to buy Benadryl for Ryan because Kendra had suggested giving him some. Something about Ryan's tongue being swollen. Huh? (What I didn't know then, but know now, was that Megan had noticed the swollen tongue while out with Ryan and called Nathan, who was apparently still in town. They met at Stone Cold Creamery to discuss it.) Obviously, Robin and I beat the other two home.

When Megan and Ryan DID get home, I got to see his tongue. It was the underside of his tongue that was swollen...just one side. It looked like a huge, fluid-filled blister. I thought Meg should take him to Immediate Care because I had never seen anything like that before and didn't know if it was dangerous or what. It was then that she announced that she would have to leave by 5:00 to take an online test. I hadn't been told. It was 3:00 when she told me. They left for the IC place right down the road from us.

Years ago, I had purchased a little treasure box, of sorts, to keep my make-up in. It was made of clear plastic with different sized-and-colored polka dots painted on the inside surfaces. I had lined all sides on the inside with white paper so no one could see my mess of beauty implements. I have since moved on to another container for my "face," but I thought Robin might like to have the box. I suggested that she could remove the white paper and paint the inside of the box. Interestingly, she began to muse on what color paint she should use, based on the colors of the polka dots. (I was impressed. I'm not sure I would have given that a thought at her age. I would have just picked a color and then realized my mistake later!) She said she thought "amber" would be good. I said, "Amber is like a gold color." She disappeared into her bedroom and brought out a little wooden chair and said, "I mean THIS color." It was lavendar. Thus, we returned from Wally-World with a small container of lavendar paint. So, while we waited for Ryan and Mommy to return from the doctor, Robin proceeded to paint the inside of the box...and it turned out wonderfully!! I kept complimenting her on her choice of colors. ALL of the polka dots showed up, and she had done a nice job.

Megan called from IC to say, "This could take awhile. There is a line. Should I wait or just leave. What are your thoughts?" Hey...I'm not in control here! I did tell her, however, that if she had to wait too long, Robin was going to be aced out of her "personal" time with Mommy. It was already approaching 3:30. The decision was made that I would take Robin to her at the IC place, and I'd stay with Ryan, waiting to be seen. It took awhile. Ryan was getting impatient, even though there were some things in the waiting area for him to do. (He beat me several times in a memory game on the wall...largely because he had already played it with Mommy. Probably several times. He's a skunk!

The children had both been to the doctor on Friday for check-ups and had received shots (that they shouldn't have needed). Ryan was nervous. The doc came in and determined that what Ryan has is a ranula--a fluid-filled cyst caused by an injured salivary gland. He recommended a tea bag compress several times a day, but should be followed up by an ENT doc or a pediatric dentist if it is still there by Tuesday. Apparently it is a painless thing. Ryan never complained. Don't know the consequences if it isn't treated...

Robin and Megan returned with a new winter coat for Robin. Megan sat for a bit, then left with regret that she couldn't stay to help carve pumpkins. Both kids painted things. The children and I ate our corned beef dinner, then determined that it was time to carve. Did you know that there are differences in pumpkins??? The cute little ones that I had bought were labeled "pie pumpkins". Yeah...so? The "so" part is that you can't carve a pie pumpkin! They are solid. I realized I was licked very early in the game. Worked very hard to get my sharpest knife in the silly thing, and "that's all she wrote". Defeated, I dragged out the paints AGAIN and let the kids paint their pumpkins. I was wearing down by then. The children still had energy. It was about 8:00 PM.

The kids put their jammies on. We watched a couple of videos and ate some popcorn. I put down the chair-futon for Robin who decided she wanted to sleep there. Ryan, after some coaxing that he had the "coolest bed in the house" decided to stay in his own room. By now it was after 10:00 and I was pooped. Robin kept asking me how soon I thought I would go to sleep, which is a warning sign that something might be afoot. I laid awake in my bed for awhile, muting the TV every time I heard a noise. I would go out to check on things, but nothing was out of order (except that Robin was still awake each time I went out). Eventually, I dropped off. Robin awakened me at 12:15 with a hygiene complaint. Took care of that. She woke me again at 2:15 AM with another complaint. I asked if she was still awake because she wasn't comfortable on the futon. She thought so. I told her she could choose her own bed or to sleep with me. Guess which she chose? She conked right out. End of story.

This morning, we were to meet the Heffelman grandparents at early church (8:30). It was plenty tough to get Robin out of bed! We were there in time. The children were good as gold during the service. At one point, there is a children's message where the attending children are called to the front for a little lesson before being sent off to kid activities. This morning, there were only three children: Robin, Ryan, and another young gentleman who was helping his father as an usher. The message was about a compass that always points north, and that the Bible always points to God. Robin raised her hand and volunteered to the minister in front of the whole congregation that she was attending Catholic school...and Ryan mentioned the rosary. The minister, unflapped, welcomed them as visitors. Ugh! They went on to supervised "children's church" while we finished the service. Granpa Phil, making the best of the situation, said he thought it was great that his grandchildren could "volunteer" to speak in front of the faithful. Let's see...the children have been "raised" in the Unitarian Universalist Church, are attending St. Mary's Catholic School in Muncie, and did pre-school plus additional attendance at Plainfield United Methodist Church. Do you think they'll be confused???

I left it up to the children if they wanted to attend Sunday School after the service. Both did. The Heffelman grandparents and I took them to their locations. They had friends in attendance and were happy as little clams when we left. (One of the mothers of Ryan's previous Kdg. class inquired why Ryan wasn't in Brandon's class anymore. We gave a partial and tearful answer. It just happens.) Judy and Phil volunteered to bring the kids home. I had suggested that we all meet for lunch thereafter, but since only Judy stays for Sunday School (and Phil hadn't been assessed of a possible new routine) we let it pass. Maybe next time. As the children were saying "bye" to their Heffelman grandparents in front of the house, Robin clung to Grandpa. I don't know what she is thinking, and it breaks my heart!

When we got home, the children changed back into their Muncie clothes. I had washed them overnight... We had leftovers for lunch. Ryan wanted the walking taco. Robin wanted corned beef. Then they waited for Jack.

Jack is the neighbor boy. He has been a huge influence on the children over many months (mostly Ryan). This weekend, Jack was camping with his cousin. Today, he was due back at noon, then at 1:00. He finally arrived sometime around 1:45, which gave the children short of two hours to play with him before we were scheduled to leave for Muncie. Since it was a nice day, they played outside, throwing leaves on each other, etc. It was all that Ryan needed. He had been so anxious about his friend's absence!

I gathered the children up and left for Muncie at 3:30. We had to stop at the Heffelman grandparents to pick up some sticker books (that actually saved the day in the car)...then got gas. The kids picked on each other most of the way to Muncie. They were both so tired...they even LOOKED tired.

When we got there, Robin headed for the house. Ryan said he was NEVER getting out of the car. (He did.) Apparently Robin said something that got her in trouble with her stepmother before I even got in the house. All I heard was Robin saying, "Guess it's not a good idea, Kendra." She was told not to be so "snotty"....and later told to "lose the attitude" when Wednesday (her daughter) was trying to be in control of delivering Halloween cards to the children. Robin was quite clingy at my departure. I worry about her. She isn't as expressive of her emotions as Ryan...and he has a warped perception of things. She is a sneaky one.

For what it's worth, I delivered my grandchildren to a home similar to mine. Kendra was doing laundry. The house was no less messy than here. No less stress. Just a LITTLE more space. I only cried from their house to I-69 on the way home. I guess that's progress.

Moving on...