Didn’t get to sleep in quite as much as I would have liked on Sunday, only until about 8:30 or so. Woke up pretty sore all over, except my knee thankfully. I think I’d gotten better non-sleep at the camp than the sleep I got at home the next night. Dave was already up when I got up, which surprised me since he’d been out of town a week. I figured he’d sleep in since he was back in his own comfy bed. Casey, who is usually the early bird who gets the worm on non-school days, was still asleep.
Got my coffee, got on SL to park, got on Wiz to garden, got on DDO for the dice roll, then got on Aura Kingdom for the usual morning stuff there. Dave made cinnamon rolls once Casey was up.
I was planning to go to Sam’s Club and Walmart and leave Casey with Dave, but Dave mentioned having a huge amount of homework to catch up on and that he wasn’t sure he’d even get it all done, so once Casey was done eating his cinnamon roll I had him get dressed and took him out with me. I talked to Colin for a bit while we were out.
On the drive to Onalaska to go to Sam’s Club, I mentioned to Colin the possibility of going down to Disney World with my parents and Casey sometime, now that I can walk again. I even got all excited, looking at possibly taking a train to Chicago, having Uncle Tommy pick us up for a sleepover, then having him drive us to the airport the next day.
Got what we needed at Sam’s club and more, to include a new insulated lunch bag for Casey to start taking lunches to school. I snuck in some packs of fruit that he probably won’t eat, but to at least make it clear that I try to feed him a variety of good and healthy foods.
I was hungry when we left, so I asked Casey if he was, but he said no. I was hoping to stop somewhere (besides McDonald’s) for lunch together, but he said he was ready to go to Walmart. So, we headed back to Tomah and went to the Walmart there. The main things we were missing was fruit snacks and bread, but we got some other things as well. I got him a sketch book and his own acrylic paints and some new brushes, because he does enjoy painting. We also picked out his costume for Halloween, he saw a Mario costume and knew it was the one as soon as he saw it.
After that, we came back home. When we walked in the door with the first load of groceries, I noticed that the TV was tuned in to football. Considering the overwhelming amount of homework Dave had, I was like, “Hmm.” He wasn’t inside, but then I saw him out back mowing the lawn. Another “Hmm.” I could have had a kid-free afternoon!! Oh well.
Got everything put away, with a couple rest breaks here and there. I was tired, but not sore! That was a relief, at least.
For dinner I whipped up a quick salad and made wraps. I got chicken to have on the salad, but didn’t mix it in, so if Dave didn’t want to eat the chicken he didn’t feel like he had to. He won’t hesitate to wolf down some meat, so idk what he means by this whole wannabe Vegan nonsense. But, I don’t mind some of the Vegan dishes myself, so I don’t mind increasing efforts to incorporate that into my meal planning, now that I can resume cooking again.
After dinner, I got back on Aura Kingdom. I spent a great deal of time going in and out of my house, because I kept checking the auction house for one thing, then closing the window, then thinking of something else to check it for. Unfortunately, if I try to just reopen that window, most of it is blanked out and I have no choice but to change maps to fix it. I ended up getting my main weapon to a 4-star level, which is pretty nice. Then, while Dave and Casey were watching Mario shows downstairs, I got to work on the daily quests. Autumn and I are both stuck in a dungeon now in a place called Frigga Peak. We won’t be able to progress until we’re level 95 because of the difficulty.
Once it was time to get Casey tucked into bed, we had him start on his important stuff. Then Dave went to cut his nails and all hell broke loose. He pitched a fit, probably because he was overly tired, and almost got stuff taken away. Meanwhile Dave held him down and managed to get it done. We had a chat with him about it afterward, basically telling him it does no good to be a monster, because he doesn’t get what he wants.
After Casey was to bed, I continued on with doing dailies and stuff on Aura Kingdom, trying to level up in the painstakingly slowest way. A little after 11, I was finally ready for bed.
Slept ok, but really didn’t want to get out of bed. I managed to get out of bed with 15 minutes to get me and Casey both ready to go to the bus. Luckily, he was already up and bouncing on Dave. Got us both dressed in time, then remembered we were going to start doing packed lunches. I muttered something about him just eating the school’s lunch that day, and a couple minutes later he asks if I made his sandwich for lunch. Shit. We should have been out the door at that moment. I said, “Right, ok, if we miss the bus I’ll just drive you.” Dave said some BS about driving him anyway blah blah blah. Apparently, just because I’m a stay at home mom means that I should be driving him to school every day.
Came back in, and Dave was in his comfy clothes (t-shirt and shorts, for me comfies are PJs) so I guess he didn’t have to work? But then I heard him on the phone and I guess he did have to go in for an appointment he’d forgotten about. So, at least I would have a little while to talk to Colin, just not sure how long.
Got my coffee, got on SL to park, Wiz to garden, DDO to roll dice, then to Aura Kingdom. Did some of my usual morning stuff, but then just stood around, bored and not sure what I wanted to do. I know what I should do, easily enough, but what I *want* to do is another matter.
It got to be around 10am and Dave still wasn’t home. I contemplated going ahead and going to Aldi for the regular groceries, and ultimately went ahead and did that because at least then I knew for sure I’d have that much time with Colin, where if I stayed home Dave could be home any minute.
Got the groceries for a couple dinner’s worth of meals, then headed home. Dave wasn’t home yet, so I stayed on with Colin a while longer. Got the groceries put away, then sat back down for a breather. A while passed and Dave still wasn’t back, so I sent him a text asking about maybe going and grabbing lunch and going antiquing. We hadn’t done that in years and I thought it’d be nice. I never heard back from him, and he came in a little after 1 and went ahead to start fixing himself leftovers for lunch. So, I joined him. He made some snarky comments, which I ignored.
After lunch, he went out to the garage. It sounded like he was working out down there, but later I found out he was changing my break pads.
I finally heard back from my mom, and I’m livid. I know I shouldn’t be, because all my life I’ve been more fortunate than others, but I am. See, my parents, years ago, had bought me and my brother Disney Vacation Club points as what would be our inheritance. They would use the points here and there in the meantime for getaways, and one time used them for me and Casey to go with, too. That was an awesome trip, and I was so looking forward to possibly going again with him. Well, my mom’s response was simply that I better save money. Now, my text to her had mentioned about the *possibility* of us going to Disney, not that I was counting on it, and her response didn’t address Disney specifically either. The last I’d heard from my mom about any trips down there was her offering, as always, to fund our next trip down, whenever that would be. Now it was sounding like that was out the window, too. I tried not to get snarky in my response, so just said tentatively 2020 then. She goes on to say that they sold 2 of their DVC points and just listed another for sale. At this point I’m starting to see red. So I ask, the points you bought for me and Mikey? Yes. They can’t afford the $3000 in taxes each year anymore. So, they can afford to gallivant around wherever whenever, buy leggings that cost $100+ for her, eat out probably 75% of their meals, but they can’t afford a few hundred for us to come down *and* are selling off my inheritance? And I bet you their inability to afford, whatever it may be, is primarily because 1) they don’t want to give up the lifestyle SHE has gotten them accustomed to and 2) she sees that quack doctor who is conning her out of hundreds of dollars a month to treat her “Adrenal Fatigue” and Epstein-Barr that has supposedly flared up. CAN’T YOU JUST GO TO A REGULAR FUCKING DOCTOR LIKE A NORMAL FUCKING HUMAN BEING? OR BETTER YET, CHECK YOURSELF INTO A FUCKING MENTAL HOSPITAL!
Count your blessings. You never know when they’re going to be sold off.
So, I’m relaying the short version to Autumn when I notice the time, it was 3:13. I darted out of my chair and toward my bedroom door so fast, I nearly face-planted tripping over my purse. Managed to get to the bus stop at the same time as the bus, and got Casey. He was all smiles, so that was good.
I mentioned to my friend/neighbor Courtney about the thing with my parents selling off my DVC points. I didn’t have time to go into great detail, which is fine since she cut me off anyway with “Their money, their choice.” I wasn’t too pleased with that response, to say the least. Some friend. Yeah, right now it’s their money and their choice, I get that. But, she doesn’t understand the impact their choices are having on my life. I can’t even call my own mother when anything upsets me because it will “raise her blood pressure and she just can’t handle it.” I can’t visit for any length of time because it’s “just too much.” They never come to visit because she can’t be that far from home. It’s not all about the money, that’s just the straw that’s about to break the camel’s back. It’s taking every ounce of will power I have to not comment back about her needing a shrink, not the quack she’s seeing.
When I went to unpack his lunch bag, I noticed the fruit cup and spoon were not there. I thought for sure this meant he’d actually eaten it. No, he said he didn’t get a chocolate milk at lunch so he drank the juice out of it. I emailed the teacher, because I’ve had lunch with him a couple times now and I know that kids can still get milk even if they take their lunch. Hopefully we can get that part figured out. At least, if it comes down to it, we have juice boxes he can take.
For dinner I made some homemade sweet potato fries and heated up some kale veggie burgers. I put cheese on mine, but otherwise the meal was Vegan. They were actually pretty darn tasty, I’d eat them again.
Dave was in the shower while I was eating, and was getting out just as I was cleaning up my plate. He ate and then cleaned up what was left. That was nice of him, he doesn’t normally do that.
After dinner, Dave wanted Casey to try and go potty. Casey wanted his tablet, to which Dave said no. Casey asked about being able to have his tablet every other time he tried, with tonight it being allowed because the night before he’d used a book. Dave told him to ask me about it, and I said no, no tablet. Dave came in and explained about the every other thing and I said, well, Casey hadn’t tried the night before, and the day before that he had his tablet when he went. Casey was fussy about trying without his tablet, but finally relented.
Dave and Casey played tic-tac-toe while I got a bath ready for Casey. Then Casey was being whiny and demanding about how he took his bath. He was insisting on watching something on his laptop while he soaked. I told him he needed to only soak for 2 minutes and that wasn’t enough time to watch something, and that he didn’t need to watch something in the bath. We argued about that for a bit, and finally he picked out a bath toy and got in. I ended up letting him soak for longer than 2 minutes before finally washing him up.
After getting Casey washed up, I was trying to get him to do his important stuff so I could get in the shower. I was yawning like crazy and felt like I could go to bed. Casey refused to brush his teeth and pitched a fit. Dave ended up taking away his brand new Mario costume to try and persuade him to brush his teeth, but even that didn’t work. He closed himself in his room, so Dave said that was fine that he could just go to bed like that. So, I got in the shower.
When I was just getting out of the shower, in came Casey and he brushed his teeth without saying a word to me. I went ahead and got wrapped up in my towels, and snuck my head into Dave’s room to ask if he’d convinced Casey to brush his teeth. He said no, that Casey had gone in there and apologized to him for being a monster, and gave him a hug and a kiss, that was all. I was like, “huh, so he went to brush his teeth on his own then. Good.”
Once Casey was done brushing his teeth, he came and apologized to me. We talked again about how being a monster gets him nowhere. He thinks that he can get what he wants that way, and now it’s time to teach him otherwise. This has been our constant battle his whole life. Any time he was unhappy about something he’d pitch a fit until he got his way, starting from when he was a newborn and didn’t want to sleep the way we were trying to get him to sleep. I’d stand in his room rocking him a specific way and singing a specific song until he was so far asleep that I knew he wouldn’t wake up, and it would take a long time. Finally we started making him just cry it out, though we hated that. But, it got the job done, eventually he’d go to bed with little to no problem. So, since about the day he was born, we’ve let him control us with his tantrums until we reach our breaking point. I think we’ve reached it again, but we should have a long time ago.
So, once we were done chatting, we exchanged hugs and kisses and then I went to read to him and got him tucked in. He was super upset about having his costume and Halloween taken away. I didn’t want to give him false hope, since Dave and I hadn’t really discussed it, so I didn’t say much other than that I was sure he’d be able to earn it back by being a good boy and listening and doing as he’s told.
So, by the time all that was said and done, I felt rejuvenated, not worn out and ready for bed any longer.
While Casey was in his bath, I tried out a new game I bought called the Secret of Mana. It’s supposed to be kinda like Zelda but for PC. It has mixed reviews on Steam, but it was half price so I thought I’d take the risk. I think just letting it run in the background has caused me to go over the 2-hour play time before returning, but from what I’ve seen so far it looks like a cute enough game anyway.
Autumn and I were in Aura Kingdom earlier, I did a few of the dailies but mostly we just stood around chatting. She wanted to try and get another game of hers working again, which was when I’d started up Secret of Mana. I guess it didn’t work out after all, and now she’s cooking dinner for her family. I guess I’ll continue with Secret of Mana until she’s back, and then figure out how to save and exit. The default keyboard controls are impossible, so I’m using my Xbox controller.
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