It Is Almost History

The month of January is history tomorrow already. It has been one of those months were nothing really got done yet there has been more action around here then I would like. There have been missed school days for everyone, missed work days, and enough Hanna drama to last a whole year. I have gotten LOTS of appointments scheduled for medication checks, physicals, surgeries, dentist, PCA evaluations, etc, etc. We also have valentine parties, confirmation, and Easter coming up. I think that things are going to continue to be very crazy around here at least until summer vacation and then maybe we can relax for a few days. That is just the way it is around here.

The Hat

Even with all of the Hanna chaos and drama around here everyone else is busy with their own lives and it has been pretty much smooth sailing. Rene` and Trevor are busy with school and work, Jared got a job building boat motors, at least until they run out of parts,and he is working as a PCA in the evenings and weekends, Karre is well a teenager doing schoolwork and working for me, Lauren has been a really good kid lately (don`t tell her that or it might fall apart), Allen is being Allen, and Paul is still an adorable little busy body. Dad and I also keep busy at our work because it is never all done.

I was reminded of an event that took place while we were on vacation when Rene` emailed me the photos from her phone.

Grandma and Paul went out for a walk and since grandma can not live without her morning coffee and we had used all of the filters for the coffee maker they were going to buy some filters at the shop along the way. Grandma found the ones she wanted to purchase and gave them to Paul to carry while they finished looking around. Paul put the pack of coffee filters on his head and said they were his new " hat". He wandered around for several hours with that "hat" on. Now every time someone brews a pot of coffee I have this vision of Paul and his "hat" stored away in my head for a chuckle.

I just Don`t Know Anymore?

There is a kid out there who has a rather upset mom because of my kid`s behavior and I totally get it if that had happened to my kid I certainly would not be happy about it at all.

My kid is angry because once again she thought she was going to get away with something and of course Mom and Dad found out about it and there will be consequences even if she does not understand them and at this point I can not think of any that will get the point across to her.

And then there is me who is very unhappy because I KNOW THIS KID NEEDS SUPERVISION all the time, on the bus, in the bathroom, at lunch, recess, etc., etc.,and the people who are supposed to be helping with that are obviously not doing a good enough job of it and what irritates me most is that some how I am supposed to be able to fix it when things go wrong. Yet when I try to get help which will improve the situation a bit all I get is a report of how wonderful, perfect, and normal this kid is.

Not A Thing Done This Week

The kids did not have school Monday, they went to school late yesterday, and thanks to "girl issues" I get to put up with Hanna being home for the rest of the week. That is just lovely I will not get the pile of tax paperwork ready to go to the accountants, the meals cooked to put in the freezer, or any of the other hundred things that I could be doing since I have to keep track of Little Miss Angry. That is my "normal kid" for you and just for good measure that "normal kid" was broadcasting lots of personal information to other kids yesterday so I have a parent to deal with as well. Will I ever have a "normal" life?

The Pop Tart Battle

Yesterday was loud, mixed up, and long. That is the way it is when things are not on schedule.

Karre was supposed to go out to dinner with her friends and then they had planned to walk around the mall for awhile to celebrate her birthday which was ten days ago. The weather was getting bad so when Jared came home from work she asked him if he would drive them and she said that she would buy him dinner in exchange. He told her that there was no way he was going to drive so I guess the roads must have been pretty bad because he usually does not turn down an opportunity to drive with free food as well. The weather has disrupted Karre`s birthday plans many times over the years. Now that all four of these girls have jobs and all four of them are very involved in school activities it becomes a major task to find time for them to get together. That is the breaks of having a winter birthday.

Today is starting out much like yesterday as school is running two hours late and there is no pre-school. Hanna literally ran me over trying to get the last Pop Tart before her sister could get it. The Pop Tart is now mine. I will give it to Paul when they are gone. Now we have a screaming fit that I like Lauren better. How is that since she did not get the Pop Tart either? This kid has no logic. I will just have to protect the other kids until the bus rescues me all because of a stupid Pop Tart. I will not be buying those for a lloooooonnnnnggg time.

No School Monday

There is no school today as Friday was the end of the quarter. It goes without saying that we have been up for hours already. Hanna of course is the one who just had to get everyone up. Karre just wondered downstairs with the dog in tow. She like everyone else here has been greeted very loudly by Hanna as she is on one of her rants about not wanting to be here, hating everyone here,she can take care of herself, do what she wants, make her own rules,etc, etc, and of course she is adding what sounds like some sort of air raid siren for extra loudness.

Lauren and Paul went downstairs to find something to do. If they have any brains at all they will stay down there all morning.

Allen is sitting on the couch yelling at Hanna to shut up and go away, which just makes her louderl

I am going to get some laundry going and clean up the kitchen mess from last night and tune her out. That is the plan of action at least for as long as I can take the noise. She wants someone, anyone to argue with her and that just is not going to happen. She already knows how we feel about her and she also knows that no matter what she does she is still a part of this family. It would be really nice if some how we could get it into her head that she is not going to be allowed to control us with this behavior.

That Is Our Hanna

Today at a baby shower for our PCA Angie`s adorable little boy I sat and visited with her mom for quite a while. She had been around for some time while Angie was keeping track of Hanna so she had been able to observe all that is involved in caring for her. She said something that is very true when one takes the time to think about it, she said "Hanna reminds me of my dad who had dementia and needed someone to be there all of the time to make sure he was safe and doing what he was supposed to be doing.

With the experience of her dad`s illness and that from working in a long term care center she probably has a pretty good understand of dementia and what is required to care for people who have the disorder. Hanna does have some pretty serious memory loss issues both long and short term, she makes poor choices, and is not able to take care of meeting her own physical needs. The difference here is that people who have dementia get progressively worse and Hanna will not. Now she gave me a way to try to describe what it is like to parent Hanna that may make the picture clearer, as least for some people.