Last Summer Weekend

Because I am off-my-rocker-insane we had a dual sibling sleep-over this past weekend. Mini Momma came for a night (I will go into more detail about this another time) and Primero had Esperanza sleep-over along with their cousin. For those keeping score, that doubled the number of young people in our house. Here is the Reader’s Digest version of our weekend.

 

Friday: Primero and I dropped the kiddos off at daycare, picked up his last paycheck from his summer job, went to the bank and then onto Dorney Park. I wanted a last hurrah for Primero before school started and CHOR gets discount tickets (and it’s an amazing $20 discount!). Primero is not a thrill-seeker and wouldn’t ride a single roller coaster, barring the Wild Mouse. We did ride other things and I rode my favorite roller coaster, Steal Force, without Primero. The day was exceptionally hot and humid and before long Primero was asking to see a movie instead of riding more rides. Mini Momma’s grandmother had text me asking to pick her up earlier in the day to avoid traffic. I agreed to pick her up around 3:30. We hit traffic getting back home and went to the mall to cool down before getting the kids early from daycare and then driving the hour down to Mini Momma’s place. It was a really HOT day to be stuck in the HOT car (we have no A.C.) and by the time we got back home my head was about to explode. Oh, and I forgot that Love Bug’s speech therapist was coming over, so it was a good thing we stopped at home before going to dinner or we would have missed her. Around 9 pm we picked up Esperanza and Cousin along with some of their laundry. I stayed up too late watching a scary movie with them and was grumpy when the younger three woke me up too early the next morning.

 

Saturday: I spent the morning grumbling while preparing for our afternoon at the pool. No sight or sound from the older three, so we left without them. I think they woke up around 2 pm. We went to the pool with Chica Marie’s therapist and that is about the oddest thing, except it isn’t the strangest thing I’ve ever done as a foster parent. I was really excited to go to this pool because it is a really nice one, not like the one we go to. It is in a fancier part of the county, although still close to where we live, so the crowd is a little less-rowdy. Actually, the pool seemed empty with very few patrons. There are three separate pools; a baby pool which is freezing cold for unknown reasons, a “regular” pool from 3-5 ½ feet and a slide, and a diving pool with two low diving boards (I was bummed I didn’t get to go there, but that’s the sacrifice of a mother). Love Bug wanted nothing to do with the pool, being more interested in the basketball court and climbing the fence. Eventually, I wrestled him into his swimming trunks and carried him into the pool. Chica Marie would not go any deeper than the shallow end and kept telling me and Mini Momma to go and leave her behind. I did swim with Mini Momma in the 4 foot end for a little bit. There is a strange dynamic between the two girls when we are all together. Mini Momma wants to be mothered and not mother Chica Marie, who in turn pushes us both away. When they were playing at home before the pool, it was evident they struggle being siblings together because they never get enough time together to figure it all out. When we got back home after the pool we were filled in on some drama from Primero’s bio mom. It seems he can’t ever get out of the dysfunction. We were supposed to pick Esperanza up from work at 8, after taking Mini Momma home, but I fell asleep after taking a shower and we were late. We didn’t eat dinner until after 9 that night. Oops! The drama from Primero’s mom, in addition to some bad news from school exploded into a verbal brawl between him and me while trying to take Esperanza and Cousin home. The night ended in me falling asleep to Primero texting me to argue more.

 

Sunday: I woke up with a massive and debilitating headache. I had wanted to get the house cleaned up, but didn’t feel well enough to really do much more than a few things. I took some Aleve, tried to relax and eventually did get some laundry done. The only thing on our agenda was to go grocery shopping. Primero woke up around 12:30, right after I put the younger two down for their naps. Primero asked about going to his uncles house and I was hesitant due to the issue the night before and his propensity to use his uncle as leverage to get his way. I discovered on Facebook that we were all invited to his uncle’s for their youngest son’s birthday celebration. I was dismayed that Primero asked if he could go and not if we were all going. I told him we needed to go grocery shopping first and then we would go over. We ended up staying later than I wanted to because it is hard to extract Primero from family gatherings; he always seems to feel like it is his last. We got home and tucked the kids into bed. Before too long it was time for Primero to go to bed so he would be ready for his first day of school.

 

It’s hard to believe summer is over and school is starting, but I am more than ready for some cooler weather and the predictability of a set schedule. #MicroblogMonday

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.