Life has been crazy busy these last few weeks and I’ve had lots of blog entries in my head that haven’t made it to print yet so this is a catch all of sorts.
Gang fight—Last Thursday the Boy shamed me to no end and took part in the bullying of another child on the back of the school bus. The victim, a 3rd grader who’s been bullying the Boy (kindergartener) most of the year, got into an argument with a 4th grader on the bus. The yellow-bellied twit of a 4th grader incited seven younger kids, including the Boy and a sweet little 1st grade girl we know, to beat up the 3rd grader. I don’t know the extent of the beating but I suspect the 3rd grader was not seriously hurt, more likely his pride was destroyed. Regardless, it was horrifically wrong.
The Boy not only received a spanking that night (we don’t normally spank but this was an extreme case), stood in the corner and lost TV and trampoline for two days. Friday morning The Hubby took the Boy into the principal’s office and explained what punishment we’d handed down and tried to get more information on what happened. The Boy was suspended from riding the bus for one day as were the other younger kids involved. As best I can gather the 4th grader was suspended from the bus and school though I don’t know for how long.
My concern was two fold—first that my sweet little baby boy could stoop to such violence and brutal bullying behavior. It is so against my very fiber that I can’t comprehend it. Second it frightens me that at the suggestion of an older kid the Boy did something he knew to be wrong. I was thoroughly prepared to deal with him being a cut-up and a class clown, minor problems in the big scheme of life. I am not prepared to deal with a violent, bullying child. He just is not that type of kid.
Auntie—My kids call my favorite aunt Auntie. There were 7 kids in my Mom’s family (2 of them stepsons). Mom is the oldest and Auntie is second to the youngest. She is 10 years older than me and 10 years younger than my Mom. Since I was in elementary school I’ve looked up to her and she’s been my friend, most of the time being more of a mother to me than my own. I could and still can talk to her about anything under the sun. I was a flower girl in her wedding, spent weekends (when we were in the same state) at her house, helped with her twins when they were babies and I have always relied on her. She is the type of person you can tell anything and she doesn’t judge you, at least she never has me. She’s not perfect, but she’s real. She made my wedding dress. She lent me a shoulder to cry on when I thought I’d never have kids. When the Hubby and I first got back together with the intent of marrying, she and my uncle were the first people I took him to meet (outside my immediate family). The first time we went to visit them we got high on the way. Amazingly stupid because Auntie has always lived way out in BFE somewhere where the roads go up mountains and twist around like a deformed spine. When we finally got to their house we were giddy and giggly. We sat around the kitchen table and talked for hours (which always seems to happen when we visit her), drank endless glasses of soda (you’d have thought we were dehydrated) and of course ate everything we could find because we had the munchies. My Uncle took the Hubby out back and showed him the swimming pool and later the Hubby told me it took everything he had not to burst out laughing or jump in. A few years ago I finally told Auntie we were high that night and she laughed and said she had no clue. For some reason the bond I have with her reaches to my husband and kids. The Hubby likes few of my relatives, mostly for just cause, but he immediately took to them. My kids think Auntie walks on water and my uncle is tops with them because he can burp the alphabet.
Auntie is crafty, we always do some sort of painting project when we visit, something else the kids love. She’s not a painter like an artist, but rather a craft person, primitive designs, country, etc. but she’s very good at it. They’re a blue collar couple, neither have a college degree, neither have lived anywhere outside of WV, but they are the most giving, understanding, loving people you could ever know. Auntie worships my kids like they were her own grandkids. It’s simply amazing. She is the Scrabble queen. I think I play a pretty mean game of Scrabble, but she almost always beats me by at least 150 points. I don’t know why I decided to write about her other than they were coming down to visit last weekend. They were on their way to our house for a cookout when they got a call that my uncle’s dad has a heart attack and died. They turned around and went home of course so I didn’t get to see her.
And lastly, pretty much everyone knows at this point that I have a new job and will start it in a week. I am excited, scared, sad and ready. I have been burnt out with the current job for quite awhile now and am ready for a new challenge. At the beginning of the year the Hubby and I said this will be our year, and though I don’t want to jinx it, I really think it just might be. Not just because the job, but because we are getting along better than ever before and I think and we’re actually seeing light at the end of the financial tunnel. We have a plan, a workable plan. We’ll be able to send the Boy and Girl to college (or maybe a military school for him if he keeps it up), take real family vacations, do all the projects, both needed and the dream projects, on the house and retire and not have to eat cat food. If there’s one thing I will pass on to my kids it will be fiscal responsibility. I will choke them if the lift one finger to get a credit card in college. I will personally kick their asses if they ever whisper the words charge it.
No comments:
Post a Comment