It's the Drama that Never Ends....

Yesterday I had agreed to help out my older kids by:

1.Babysitting Gabby for a plasma appointment;

2. Setting up a Meeting for Salinda at the local college so she could start school in February;

3. Babysitting Isaac while Courtney was in class;

4. Finding paperwork Mike needed for financial aid and meeting with him; and

5. Giving Mike rides to classes.

Mid morning I texted Salinda who was with Gabby and Henry in Hutchinson and hadn't come back asking if I was going to be babysitting or not. She texted back, "No, but I'm on my way back there soon. An hour later she texted saying, "so I started college up here today." I texted back, "oh." She came, got some of her stuff, had some supper with us, and left again. Apparently she is staying with a friend.

Mike didn't need a ride after all and cancelled our meeting though I did find the stuff.

And I took care of Isaac. Courtney came between classes and so now our home is not only a day care but a library because she did homework while she was there. Isaac (on her watch) got into the dogs water and was completely soaked so he had to wear Gabby's pink pants and flowered shirt for a while. Think he's damaged for life? He was just adorable and fell asleep on my lap. Nothing beats that.

And so another day came and went. I think we had a couple of really crazy ideas when we started adopting. The first is that the kids would be grateful. The second is that they would need us less after they turned 18. It's actually turning out to be the opposite. Suddenly after 18 most of them are deciding that they do love us and can trust us and we are busier than ever being parents and grandparents.

The interesting thing is that if I reframe this and see how the kids need a lot more time to mature and heal, I'm actually able to enjoy the time that I have with them!