Duck

7-12-11




It was a productive afternoon. I managed to get the costume chest out of the garage and into the playroom. I also removed what items had been in there and put all the costumes in. They fit, almost perfectly. The chest even fit exactly where I wanted it to, so all was good when it came to this.



Despite my attempts to be a little lazy, I did manage to also clean up the playroom, clean the living room, and start some laundry. Today it appears to be a change bedding and clean kitchen kind of afternoon.



I am going to be kind of pissed if my entire free time is consumed by housework. On the plus side, the boys and Ken are not home most of the day so messes are kept at a minimum.



Neighbor boy pisses me off. I can’t even put my finger on what is so offensive about him. I just get this overall sense that he doesn’t respect me and for some reason it irks me. It almost wreaks of sexism. It is as though as mom, I have little to no say in what the boys are up to. It probably doesn’t help that I am not as decisive with him as I should be. Mostly this is due to my desire to keep my true feelings in check.



I pulled up to the house at 1:30 and he and Anthony were practically sprinting towards my house. NB yelled out to me, “where are they?” I was already annoyed. The day before, we had told him that the boys had camp and would be leaving the house around 7:30 in the morning, not getting back until after 5. I relayed this to the boys, hoping that it would sink in.



“So they can play when they get home?”



“I don’t think so. They are not getting home until later, and they have chores.”



“So what time can they play?”



“Not tonight. I don’t think they will have time.”



I went inside, and started the projects. About an hour later, there was knocking on my door. I went to find NB at the door. He proceeded to ask me again when they would be home. I told him I didn’t know, which there was in fact a lot of truth to, but that the earliest would not be until 5.



“So can they play for 5 minutes after they get home?”



“Not today. It is the first day of long camp, and we have to figure out their schedule.”



“How long does camp go for?”



“Two weeks”



“So you are telling me they can’t play for two weeks?” His tone made me want to slap him.



“They have weekends, and after tonight, I will know better how long they will have.”



“What kind of camp?”



Seriously, it took all my strength to not kick this kid. I had barking dogs, clearly looked busy with sweat dripping down my face from moving furniture, yet this kid had to ask for the 15th time what kind of camp. I told him quickly, and he finally went on his way.



As I continued cleaning, I watched NB and Anthony pace back and forth in front of my house. It was like circling sharks. I am the kind of person who gets easily freaked out by this. I go all Men at Work and practically close the blinds.



I know, these are just kids who are bored during the summer. I should be all happy that they are that excited to play with my kids. I am, truly. I like that they have made friends. I just don’t like this kid, and maybe it taints a lot of this interaction.



Ken and the boys arrived home around 5, and before I could even tell Ken what had taken place, NB was walking into the house with Ken and the boys. Can’t keep the vampires out if they are invited in!



Ken sent the boys out back for 10 minutes since it got them out without complaint, and dinner wasn’t quite ready. I was ok with this for the most part.



Anthony then let himself in a few minutes later, complete with giant ice pack taped to his arm. I inquired about this and he held back tears and told me that NB had hit him with something. Hatred intensified.



Ken went out back with the 4 kids, and got more information, saying that it sounded like rough housing got out of hand. I still maintain that NB was picking on Anthony, who doesn’t exactly have much of a backbone. Either way, kid has a lot of explaining to do.



I don’t want to hate this kid the same way my mom hated some of my friends. The boys need to make their own decisions on people. In all fairness, this kid could be worse. Even though he is bossy, I have seen both my kids stand up to him and essentially ignore him when they are done with him. It means they should be able to handle it. I maintain that if this kid hurts my boys, I will end him.



If he comes to my house before 5 today, I am telling him that the kids are grounded.



I had random dreams including being in some funky war and swimming laps with Dax’s class. I am sure there was symbolism galore, but for some reason, I am not looking for it this morning. I am too sleepy to worry about it.



There is a lot of rage in me right now. I think it is tired coming through. I am annoyed from NB. For some reason, the fact that there is a person here from one of our sister companies and has been here for 6 months longer than she was supposed to be, I am annoyed. She doesn’t do anything to bother me, but she irks me. Incredibly irrational.



Of course, this could be hormonal based since it is the week of period. What a cop out, though.



One of the wonderful things I found in the costume chest was a crap load of unopened Star Wars action figures from Phantom Menace. These have now been incorporated into the Stone Store, our reward/punishment system. The boys will be able to “buy” these toys with the rocks they earn. It means I have a bunch of awesome toys that I don’t have to go out and get.



We had also told Bobby that if he truly wants to get his own cat, he has to earn 500 stones. I don’t see him doing it anytime soon, but at least he knows it is not out of the question.



Random memory of dream includes high fiving a duck. Odd.