There has been so much drama lately!!
I will be surprised if I don't end up with an ulcer or two at the end of the week.
Let's see:
- First, the most important one~
Today, my older daughter, Tabitha (6 1/2) was watching my baby, Tara (6 mos) for me while I threw away a
poopy diaper and washed my hands. Tara was lying in the middle of the bed (like she usually is) and Tabitha, being a very attentive big sister, wanted to watch her while I was cleaning up. This has happened many times, so I thought nothing of it. However, this time while I was washing my hands I hear:
"MOM! SISTER FELL ON THE FLOOR!"
Naturally, I think I misheard her and said "WHAT?!"
Tabitha said the same thing and I went running down the hallway, shaking.
Tabitha was lifting her up on the bed and Tara was screaming.
Upon investigation,
Tabi was looking down the hallway to see what I was doing and Tara, curious to where her sister went to, was wiggling herself to try and get a look at Tabitha. She wiggled herself off the bed.
I hate to admit it, but I thought maybe Tabitha was lying about her "just falling". Maybe she was trying to play with her, I thought. Since Tabitha was quite persistent with her story, I decided to conduct my own experiment.
I placed Tara exactly where I had her. I had Tabitha talk to her from the hallway. Tara arched her back to try and see where her big sister went off to and, sure enough, wiggled far down. Far enough that maybe one leg just happened to fall first, then gravity took over.
Long story short (too late,
lol), Tara seems fine and Tabitha is extremely shaken, which is rightfully so. I told her that being a big sister means to
always watch over Tara, not just some of the time.
My parents live across the street from us, which is both a blessing and a curse. My brother is moving, so he is collecting odds and ends that either we or my parents stored for him in our garages. We also happened to make use out of his
Xbox 360 Game System for over a year now. We knew he'd want it back eventually, and that was no problem. At about 7:30pm my father called us saying that my brother would probably come and get the
Xbox a little later in the evening. My husband, James, said, "
Ok, but not after
9pm, since we just put down the girls and Amy and I will probably be asleep by
then."
About 10
mins later my father called back. I answered the phone this time.
"Can I talk to your husband?" he asked, with slight demand in his tone. For some reason, I knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.
He told James that since he was shocked and appalled by the way he so abruptly ended his previous conversation, he will be over right away to get the
Xbox.
Fine.
He came over, very aggravated. I said, "I don't understand what the problem is."
He said to James, "The problem is that you don't know how to talk to people...
sir!"
At this point, I am floored since I truly don't understand why he is upset.
"You people obviously don't do stuff for family. James could have offered to
bring over the
Xbox since time was such an issue."
In hindsight, I should have said, you know, "I
didn't even think to bring it over. We literally just put down both girls, we've
had a long, exhausting day, James is still toiling over math homework.... so
sorry we didn't think of stopping what we were doing to bring over the precious
Xbox!"
Of course, I wouldn't have said it rudely, nevertheless you always
think of good things to say AFTER the initial argument!
I said, "
Ok, I think everyone needs to calm down now.
We've had a long day, I am sure
you've had a long day."
He cut me off saying, "Yeah, I've been up since 3am."
"Well, there you go!" I chortled back.
"I'M FINE!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, it sounds like you are. Feel better!" I said as he walked out of our house.
"I'm fine!" he repeated as he trailed off.
It has been 2 days and I have yet talked with my dad, although I called and talked with my mom. She said that everyone has calmed down now, but it seemed to them that he was very abrupt with his "9pm" rule.
Of course! We don't even like phone calls after 9pm!
"But we're family," my mom rebuttals.
Seriously. She trying to pull the family card over something so trivial? Sigh.
They are my parents, and I love them deeply, however I am on James' side for this one.
I feel that James and I periodically bring up the SAME argument. Apparently, according to him, I sit around the house all day and nothing gets done.
Then, when I honestly want to talk about it more and take his criticism, he gets defensive and says "I can't talk to you about this. You can't take my criticism."
Crap crappity crap crap.
I truly don't understand why it seems to him that nothing gets done. In my defense, I am dealing with a baby who does not sleep. And I am sorry, but is it wrong that if she does happen to have a nap in the morning, I take advantage of the "me time" (which I never get.) and either try to nap myself or play games, write on my blog or chat on Facebook?
I feel that majority of the things in this house do, in fact, get done.
In the morning, I have to hurry up and get Tabi's lunch ready for school, get Tabi's breakfast, brew the tea for everyone, make sure her clothes are ready, brush her hair, get Tara's diaper changed if she's up (and she usually is) then get her formula, then feed her breakfast, and get Tabi on her bus and off to school.
During the day, (and not necessarily every single day) I manage to sweep, then swiffer, then mop, vacuum, laundry, dust, clean bathrooms including toilets, clean dishes, put dishes away, clean cat litter (and with 3 cats, one being 18 yrs old, there is almost always an 'accident'.) all the while I have a baby who I need to feed and entertain constantly. Before long, Tabitha gets off the bus, and two times a week we have to hurry up and get to swim class.
Not to belittle the fact that I have no adults to talk to, can get into a funk, get frustrated when baby doesn't sleep or Tabi is extra talkative or my parents make me want to pull my hair out... and honestly, I am truly ok with all this as long as I am treated right for it. Give credit when credit is due.
I appreciate James working hard during the day and going to class to achieve his dream of becoming a pilot. I support him 100%. James is awesome for helping with making dinners pretty often, as well. For all that, I always express my gratitude.
I guess I feel that everything seems to be about him, never about how I feel. If it starts out about how I am upset about something, for some reason, the argument flip flops and I end up being the bad guy.
Our 10 year wedding anniversary is coming up in a week. Maybe so much has happened so quickly that we are still trying to adjust? hmm... Maybe not.
Anyway, so here I am exhausted, but I try and keep a positive outlook on things. You have to.
Thank goodness writing is so cathartic!
