Just like I said

So, I get home from the noon time threats to not come home. I calm myself down. I take a nap. I plan for a complicated evening. I have a doctor’s appointment with Dominyk at 4:15, inflatable gym night at 5, Salinda and John (if he is coming home) need a ride to the movie theatre for a 7:00 movie. The PCA taking the 4 to the gym night can only stay until 6:15 and I have to take over for him.

So I come home and I get it all figured out. Salinda has a friend whose mom will let her and John come over for a while and then give them a ride if I can pick them up. Jimmy says he is going to the pool. Rand is going bowling. The other 4 will be with me from 6:15 until 8:00.

John comes home after practice completely forgetting about his threats at lunch time. He is jovial and happy -- the polar opposite of the last time I saw him. Duh, girl, he’s bi-polar! He reports he is not going to go to the movie after all but is going to stay home. All of the sudden Jimmy wants to stay home too. I was totally against the idea, but John was begging for an opportunity to earn trust back. So, I let them stay home alone warning each of them they better be good.

While at inflatable gym night I discover that Sadie has been secretly calling a boy every afternoon when his disapproving mother (a friend of mine) is still at work. When she came out of the gym and saw the two of us at the same table her eyes nearly popped out of her head and her face turned bright red. I wanted to laugh. Anyway, we came home and I told her that I was going to talk to her, but as soon as I got in the door Jimmy reported to me that John had a girl in his room. He snuck her out of the window before I got down there, and to his credit he apologized immediately. I needed to deal with Sadie and didn’t want to escalate things with John into something uncontrollable when Bart wasn’t here, so I simply said, “This is what you do when you’re given a chance to earn trust?” For a while he pretended like he didn’t know he had broken any rules, but I decided not to even argue with him. I’m not as dumb as people think I am I guess.

Now I have another 15 minutes before I have to pick up Salinda and her friend and I am hoping that I can just get everyone in bed. I need to sleep if I“m going to clean for most of the day and parent everyone alone.

Bart wrote a great blog about our house tonight. Check it out.