a little while back i mentioned that i was going to be watching a toddler-like person. not too long later i also mentioned that it looked like it wouldn't be happening. what i haven't mentioned is that the lil hobbit has been a visiting every tuesday and thursday for 3 weeks now.
as of this week, she's coming over monday through friday.
and am i ever discovering that i am way beyond toddler year capability now. age has a funny way of sneaking up and making caring for littles just a tad more than what we expect and my hat's off to all those grandmas out there raising the next generation of children. if i thought i was tired before, it has nothing on what i am now.
see, grandma decided she's not going to watch little one since mom now has a sitter, despite being told that mom can't afford to pay for all the hours she needs and that said sitter is unwilling to watch the child from 10am to 9pm nearly everyday. mom and grandma have always had this rather adversarial relationship. now that young one won't be left home alone while mom goes to school, grandma feels free to flex her muscles in the punishment of her own daughter department. daughter, of course, is doing her best to make do and is trying to get her degree so she can find a decent enough job so she can thumb her nose at grandma.
confused? no need to be. the important part of all this is the poor girl caught in the middle of mom's and grandma's behavior and who isn't really wanted for herself. grandma would like to have the baby to get welfare, but as long as she can't, will be disagreeable about watching her and barely qualify as "watching" when she does take her granddaughter. mom, on the other hand, is obviously not ready to be a mother, obviously doesn't want to be a mother, but insists on continuing as one because grandma would like to have custody. in the middle of all this, i am attempting to baby-sit the little one, but definitely need to keep the hours shorter.
we may need the money she can pay, but my body has limits on early mornings and toddler chasing. not that she's a bad child, she's actually quite sweet, but we don't have hobbit proof gates to keep her out of rooms and if there's one thing littles her age do it's explore. without the gates, i'm doing the chasing. all of which also disrupts my writing day.
mom tells me that she will have other arrangements made so that little one will be picked up around 2 or 3pm each day. that i can handle. she has promised these arrangements by next week. i hope she can follow through. i'm just not up to taking care of anything under the age of, say, 7 or 8 anymore.
and, along the lines of child's play, vagner has taken to my son's toy box he likes to jump in and search for toys he can carry, pick one, then jump out and carry it off to play with. it can be quite a sight watching him trot on by with a watch dangling from his mouth and brushing the ground between his front legs.
site of the moment:
kodaishi
ring/clique of the moment:
writer
word of the moment: acumen
keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination especially in practical matters