Showing posts with label niece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label niece. Show all posts
29 September 2010
Teenagers. Go figure.
Come Monday it all turned around. I don’t know if she still wants to move back to Gramma’s house, but her sullen attitude has disappeared and she is back to her good natured self. That’s a relief. I wasn’t looking forward to kicking her and T out of the house. Much.
15 September 2010
Weekend round up
A little late, but a weekend round up.
Friday afternoon we went to a high school football game. The niece is attending the same high school that my daughter went to and it continues to be a funny kind of redux to go through all of this again. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that we won the game. :-)
Friday night I went to my book group. I have been in this group for 18 years. Wow. Time just slips by. Not all of the members have kids, but about half of us have daughters the same age who all went to school together. We get the monthly update of what everyone’s kids are doing and although we don’t see them often it’s great to stay connected. We are a very lax and accepting book group and usually only half of us have read the book. Someone once suggested that we call ourselves the Book Admirers. We like the name!
Saturday morning taught a couple of little kids martial art classes, then went back to the school in the afternoon to teach a women and teen girls self defense class. There were several teenagers who were getting ready to go off to college and their moms had insisted that they take the class before they go. Thank god for moms. The teenagers never want to be there, but almost always end up enjoying it and feeling empowered. I had my usual struggle with overwhelming emotion but was able to keep moving through it. Some day the past will lose its hold over me but in the meantime I will just have to keep working at it.
On Saturday night we went to the neighborhood party that occurs at the end of summer. We live in a small neighborhood and instead of individual block parties we have one big one. We definitely wanted to go and introduce the niece to various people. She absolutely amazed me on Saturday! She is ordinarily a shy person, but at the party she really stepped out of her comfort zone. A woman I know came over to say hi and I introduced her to T and the niece. I asked her if she knew any kids who were freshmen at the same high school. She said that her twin boys were freshmen but going to different schools. She then said that there were three girls over at the house and two of them went to A’s school and would she like to come over and meet them. Amazingly, A said yes, looked at us for confirmation, and off she went. (I will add that the house was across the street from where we were sitting and the kids in full view in the living room.) I was very surprised and very proud of her for going.
Sunday we stayed home and did chores. While it’s nice to have an extra hand at the clean up, there’s more need for that extra hand in the amount of clutter, laundry, dishes, etc. But, we have divided up the chores into a rotating duty roster and everyone will get a turn to do something they don’t like. :-)
All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Not enough down time for me and I am still feeling a little beset by their family. I really must work on finding ways to create some solitude for myself. Just haven’t figured that out yet.
Friday afternoon we went to a high school football game. The niece is attending the same high school that my daughter went to and it continues to be a funny kind of redux to go through all of this again. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that we won the game. :-)
Friday night I went to my book group. I have been in this group for 18 years. Wow. Time just slips by. Not all of the members have kids, but about half of us have daughters the same age who all went to school together. We get the monthly update of what everyone’s kids are doing and although we don’t see them often it’s great to stay connected. We are a very lax and accepting book group and usually only half of us have read the book. Someone once suggested that we call ourselves the Book Admirers. We like the name!
Saturday morning taught a couple of little kids martial art classes, then went back to the school in the afternoon to teach a women and teen girls self defense class. There were several teenagers who were getting ready to go off to college and their moms had insisted that they take the class before they go. Thank god for moms. The teenagers never want to be there, but almost always end up enjoying it and feeling empowered. I had my usual struggle with overwhelming emotion but was able to keep moving through it. Some day the past will lose its hold over me but in the meantime I will just have to keep working at it.
On Saturday night we went to the neighborhood party that occurs at the end of summer. We live in a small neighborhood and instead of individual block parties we have one big one. We definitely wanted to go and introduce the niece to various people. She absolutely amazed me on Saturday! She is ordinarily a shy person, but at the party she really stepped out of her comfort zone. A woman I know came over to say hi and I introduced her to T and the niece. I asked her if she knew any kids who were freshmen at the same high school. She said that her twin boys were freshmen but going to different schools. She then said that there were three girls over at the house and two of them went to A’s school and would she like to come over and meet them. Amazingly, A said yes, looked at us for confirmation, and off she went. (I will add that the house was across the street from where we were sitting and the kids in full view in the living room.) I was very surprised and very proud of her for going.
Sunday we stayed home and did chores. While it’s nice to have an extra hand at the clean up, there’s more need for that extra hand in the amount of clutter, laundry, dishes, etc. But, we have divided up the chores into a rotating duty roster and everyone will get a turn to do something they don’t like. :-)
All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Not enough down time for me and I am still feeling a little beset by their family. I really must work on finding ways to create some solitude for myself. Just haven’t figured that out yet.
09 September 2010
The First Week
Here’s where I confess that I am not perfect.*
T and the niece are driving me crazy! It’s not anything specific that either of them are doing, it’s just that they are so very… there. T has a big personality and I’ve pretty much adjusted to her. But, she is unsure of herself in this new role as parent, and that is making her question me constantly about whether or not she should do this, that, or the other. Just because I have raised one kid doesn’t make me an expert! Sure, she turned out pretty well, but I made plenty of mistakes.
And the niece. She has this habit of standing right behind us. I’ve actually turned around in the kitchen and bumped into her, she was so close. I understand that she is in a new environment, that she doesn’t know me all that well, that everything in her life has changed, but please child, give me some room! She is following me around like a puppy.
And then there’s the rest of the family! T’s sister is on the phone every day and has been over to the house several times. T’s mom and brother and nephew have been over. Of course they miss the girl and want to see her room and all of that stuff, and it’s all good in general, but there is just no break from them. I feel like it’s ten thousand of them versus one of me. I’m outnumbered!
The topper? T offered to dog-sit for an ex of hers this week. We have an elderly miniature dachshund underfoot as well. ARGH! One that is pampered and treated like a baby and expects to sleep IN the BED with me and T. Under the covers! And came to our house stinky and with FLEAS! It’s too much.
One week down, three years and fifty one weeks to go…
*Just for the record, I do not think that I am perfect. I am a flawed individual who is showing signs of strain.
T and the niece are driving me crazy! It’s not anything specific that either of them are doing, it’s just that they are so very… there. T has a big personality and I’ve pretty much adjusted to her. But, she is unsure of herself in this new role as parent, and that is making her question me constantly about whether or not she should do this, that, or the other. Just because I have raised one kid doesn’t make me an expert! Sure, she turned out pretty well, but I made plenty of mistakes.
And the niece. She has this habit of standing right behind us. I’ve actually turned around in the kitchen and bumped into her, she was so close. I understand that she is in a new environment, that she doesn’t know me all that well, that everything in her life has changed, but please child, give me some room! She is following me around like a puppy.
And then there’s the rest of the family! T’s sister is on the phone every day and has been over to the house several times. T’s mom and brother and nephew have been over. Of course they miss the girl and want to see her room and all of that stuff, and it’s all good in general, but there is just no break from them. I feel like it’s ten thousand of them versus one of me. I’m outnumbered!
The topper? T offered to dog-sit for an ex of hers this week. We have an elderly miniature dachshund underfoot as well. ARGH! One that is pampered and treated like a baby and expects to sleep IN the BED with me and T. Under the covers! And came to our house stinky and with FLEAS! It’s too much.
One week down, three years and fifty one weeks to go…
*Just for the record, I do not think that I am perfect. I am a flawed individual who is showing signs of strain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)