Well, because in less than ten days School resumes my Friends! *Happy Dance!* And I REALLY need a break in some of my days from the Intensity that is The G-Kid Force! All Grandparents Adore their Grandchildren and I'm no exception, but when you have to deal with them twenty-four-seven... a little bit of them can go a very long way. And the 'Good Faerie Spirit' in us all wanes...
And often turns into the 'Bad Faerie Spirit' as everyone becomes Aggravated and Intolerant with everyone else, it's Hot, Monsoon Muggy and Irritants run High because the Crew here don't always get along and play well with others since Mood Disorders abound! If I lived Alone I'd have a very Zen Existance because Serenity, Calm and Peace is the Atmosphere I function best in and feel most Centered and Restored when surrounded by. I'd Love for my Home to be a Zen Oasis free from Chaos, Stress, Strife, Negative Energies and Raw Emotions. I Attempt to make it so... even though Clearly I don't live Alone...
Apparently the rest of the Family aren't as Intent on having that kind of a Positive Energy and Vibe... so it seems their Mission in Life is to wind each other up, torment, fuss and fight about trifles with each other... to the point that it works my last Nerve and I Lose my Calm after all Attempts to Referee ongoing running battles between them all fails miserably! Now that The Man has the Onset of Dementia, or whatever Mood Altering Medical Condition it is, he's sometimes as bad as the Children when it comes to this unlovely, antagonistic and unreasonable behavior they seem to have going on between them all!
It seems we've almost always got at least one Malcontent Individual in the Group of them at any one time, even if the other two are having a 'Good Day'. It varies as to which 'One' that is... but it's almost always a Given that Whoever it is that day, well, it's their Obsession and Job to make certain and ensure that eventually everyone else ends up as Miserable as they are Feeling... after all, Misery Loves Company, right?! They all seem to have a Special Gift for Accomplishing this in fact.
So usually I try to keep as many of them Separated as possible and choose my battles Wisely. Because Individually, they're usually Sweet, Charming and Lovely so I can stand them... in a Group Setting... not so much now. You see, Seven can be a very Egocentric Age and one where many Little Girls become Tearful and Drama Queens about just anything and everything at the drop of a hat... so the Beast Princess is often in the throes of those roller-coaster Emotions.
And the Young Prince has Mood Disorder, Puberty AND Teen Angst going on all at once... so he can be a right Royal Pain in the Arse most days now and Absolute Misery Personified... thinking he's a Man already... and one who is terribly Misunderstood and Persecuted... it's all about him all of the time on 'Planet Prince R'! *Winks*
And with this Age Related Medical Condition and Deterioration that The Man is Battling, he's not been quite himself and the Transition to who he is now can be confusing to The G-Kid Force. They want their 'Old Grandpa' back... and they're not liking 'New Grandpa' very much, so they don't want to be around him so much anymore. Because they don't quite understand why he's Changed and harder to get along with now... and sometimes even acting like an unlovely Big Kid who can't always get along and play well with others any more than they can?
I Understand, the Changes are Difficult for us all and my Explanations are feeble at best and as an Adult my Coping Skills with it are better, not Perfect, but better. They're kids after all, so they don't really care Why... and kids don't cut you much slack regardless of the Whys anyway... they'll be kid Reactive and Act Out. And I can't 'Make' them all Get Along, I can only Suggest that they all 'Try' to or just stay away from each other if they can't Manage that... in spite of Medical and Mental Health Conditions and Phases they all are moving through.
But in spite of there being many rooms and places they could Individually just 'Be' with a Measure of Serenity, Calm and Peace so that we could avoid Trouble in Paradise and have a Zen Existance at Bohemian Valhalla... I find that they feel compelled to gravitate to each other in spite of these Suggestions anyway, like Moths to a Flame. Like speeding Locamotives heading towards each other for that Epic Train Wreck you see coming and probably can't stop without risking collateral damage and being part of the carnage that ensues. You might have been on the Path to your own Zen Day... but that will certainly derail you... unless you've reached such a State of Enlightenment it can't... but I'm not THERE YET! *Le Sigh*
And so for me, School Resuming is something to get Excited about... because it will mean some Midweek Peace and Serenity. Some Truce from the constant Battles on what has become a Battlefield at Home between difficult Family Members taking their turns at, well, being DIFFICULT. And not getting along with each other so often that it's making me Feel Crazy trying to Mitigate and Diffuse potential situations and deal with all the incessant Moodiness! Can't we all just get along?!?! Yeah, I was having a Rodney King Reaction to the Madness!
And just how Mad can it get you might Wonder? Well... fer instance... this Morning I Awoke to the sounds of an Intense Battle going on in the Livingroom as Princess T and Grandpa were Arguing over whose Ponytail Holder it was!!! He's grown his hair long enough to wear a Ponytail now {don't ask}... and he was sure she'd taken one of HIS!!! Yes, that's what I said... WTH!?!???! You can get fifty of them for a buck at the Dollar Store so one would Think it would be no Big Deal, right? Apparently NOT! These two were going at it like their Lives depended upon it... each certain this Special One was THEIRS... even tho' there were Ponytail Holders strewn all over the Livingroom! And then the antagonistic Tween decided to add his Sarcastic two cents worth of Pre-pubescent Attitude to the mix and just Amp up the situation to Critical Mass... to Amuse himself I suppose, since Clearly he didn't really Care whose it was. Yeah, it was like a Twilight Zone Episode... and I could almost hear Rod Serling's Voice saying... "There's a Signpost Up Ahead... next stop, The Twilight Zone!"
Yeah, this would be the Turning Point for Gramma on this particular day... as my feet hit the Floor from a sound Slumber and this would Start and Set the Tone for our day... hell, it can't go much downhill from there now can it anyway!?! So... with Menopausal Hormones Trumping everyone else's Hormones, Moods or whatever they're Operating from a Place of in such Madness... I put an end to the whole Drama and everyone scatters like Mice that just woke up the Cat and realize they could be Lunch! *Winks*
I take Possession of The Special Ponytail Holder as my Personal Trophy and for the Effect... and ask WHO wants me to now do their hair?!? Yeah, I would have Pity The Fool who Volunteered for that one... everyone decided they'd be better off sans Ponytails that day on second thoughts! *LOL* "Oh, so we won't be needing this then?", I say as I completely destroy it! Hey, I could have gone completely over the edge, but at least The Coveted Special, plain Black band of an old stretched out Ponytail Holder was the only Casualty of the ridiculous Battle's Conclusion! *Smiles*
And so... the first Week in August is a Date I'm Eagerly looking forward to my Friends... as each Child will be Separated by their Grade Levels onto different Campuses of the Grade School they Attend... Hopefully never even laying Eyes upon each other during the School Day?!? *Winks*
And I will finally have the Freedom to do what needs to be done without an Entourage in Tow... and The Man can Relax and Nap at Bohemian Valhalla because there will be nobody he can fuss or fight with and nobody intentionally or unintentionally winding him up. So a Measure of Zen Existance will prevail between the Hours of Eight AM and Two Forty-Five PM four days a week... and a little shorter on Wednesdays since they get out of School earlier on that hump day... probably so that the Teachers can Enjoy a Measure of Zen Existance earlier at least one day a week, I dunno? *Winks*
And sure... a few days into the first week of School there will ultimately be those first calls coming in from Teachers and Administration... because, well... The G-Kid Force is the G-Kid Force and a little bit of them goes a very long way. And if I could Change that I would have already... so they'll just have to Learn to Deal With It too and be Thankful and Eternally Grateful it's Temporary for them since they're only Educating them for a mere School Season and not Raising them! We'll do the IEP's and all that 'Special' Stuff for these 'Special' Children and go thru the Motions that it might Help... and I'll remain Guardedly Optomistic about that Fantasy. And just Excited and Happy to be getting a brief Respite from some of the Caregiving... so don't even ask me AGAIN this Year why I don't Consider Home Schooling them? *Bwahahaha* Yeah, that Suggestion is made EVERY Year, and surely you Jest?!!
And this Year will be 'Special' in that Grandpa will also be going back to School and Entering Classes at the VA Hospital some days. Designed to be Adult Day Care Respite for Caregivers and Assist him with his Condition to Hopefully re-build Skills that he's been robbed of by this disease and arrest or slow down further deterioration of function. Some will be Family Classes that I can take with him and to offer Encouragement and Support, so I'm looking forward to that so that we can do some Creative and Fun things Together that he can Manage and be Unified in this other Battle we're up against and Fighting Together.
And in the midst of it all look for and be Encouraged by those tiny little Signs that prove to be Amazing Testimonies provided by Nature for Resilience and Survival. Like the wee White Pumpkin that grew in our Pumpkin Patch completely out of Season and during our One Hundred and Nineteen degree plus Heat Spell. Surviving and even Thriving against the Odds, while others around it withered and died or exploded. But due to it's Adaptation of being a Mutated Pumpkin it didn't get so hot that it burst or shriveled when the intense Heat of it's Environment was on Full Blast... it Endured and stayed Cool and Determined enough to Mature to a point that it could be plucked off the Vine and brought inside as a Living Testimony of Resilience and Adaptation to difficult and extreme Circumstance. And I can Relate to that...
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian