As a collection, we’re kind of a hot mess at the moment.
Marc is sick as a dog – he’s got that gross cold where he’s a dripping, hacking disaster. Jessie killed herself all week trying to make up schoolwork for the two days of Rosh Hashana and is now completely destroyed. She manifests stress physically – and when she’s pushed to the max (or pushes herself there), she gets migraines, body aches, and miseries. Sam and Julie both have massive seasonal allergies, I think. They aren’t sick the way the other two are, but I’m going thru benedryl and boxes of tissues like there’s no tomorrow. I cut my toe open last night, and it still hurts like hell. Ended up sending Marc to the store last night at nine to get liquid bandage to glue it shut, and it’s still achy.
But the day dawns again, and I can see the tree outside my window just starting to change colors. My plan today involves picking up Sam’s violin, his new glasses, and a big bag of honey crisp apples and kettle corn from Tougas. I’ll probably be going by myself, as rest of the family is sick and exhausted.
I worry about Jessie, she’s so independent but not old enough to stand up for herself the way she should. We should have interceded with the school and made sure that she got enough time to make up the work missed for the holidays, but she hates that idea. And she was so worked up and stressed and overwhelmed that I just wanted to make it easier for her – and ended up sitting up with her until eleven twice this week, helping her do the homework.
Sam bounces between blissful and oh-my-God-disastrous. Mostly blissful. He’s happy, doing well, socially comfortable and relaxed. Except that Thursday was so bad, worse than it’s been in years, in terms of getting him into the classroom. He’s getting slightly, maybe, better at getting homework done, but it’s still a process. He’s fallen in love with reading. I’m tricking him into a little bit with audio books. He’s not a proficient enough reader yet to read books at his comprehension level, and he’s a kid who functions best when he’s multi-tasking. Like his dad, now that I’m thinking about it. Marc needs the radio on while he cooks or does dishes – Sam needs a book on while he colors or plays minecraft or builds with legos. But he’s devouring books at a rate that delights me.
Julianna is doing SO well in kindergarten. She’s still a little clingy at drop off, but never (or at least really rarely) cries. She’s learning so much, just soaking it all up. She’s still my little observer – much more likely to watch than participate. Julianna benefits from being my third child – after having survived her brother and sister, there’s not a lot that she could throw at me that I haven’t already seen. She’s still my sidekick, her preferred spot is always at my side. She’s still weird, she sings all the wildly inappropriate songs that Marc has taught her. She wrestles with her dad every night, plays for hours with her barbie dolls and castles. She loves to be read to, and snuggles beside every night to fall asleep – and then sleeps all night long in her own bed. She likes her hair in a side ponytail, isn’t fully dressed unless there’s a headband on her head, and still won’t wear pants.
So, other than the sneezing and hacking and dripping and stress – we’re all doing okay. And today will be a quiet day, at home. Jessie and I are planning on going out to buy apples and glasses and pumpkin mead, and maybe Julie will come. Maybe Julie will stay home with Daddy and her big brother. But we’ll relax and rejuvenate and recover from a busy week. We’ll be ready for Monday.
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