Monday

We are having a Monday and a Half around here!  Yesterday was terrible, of course, being Sunday and us and all.  It was also Maria's birthday, but thank God we had a party for her on Saturday because it was pretty rotten yesterday.  Mike went to Mass early and I took the three girls to 10:30 and then to donuts and coffee afterward, which was nice.  Then I took Maria to Steak and Shake for her birthday, met my sister there and then we went home, not until around 1:30.  But then somehow it was like twenty five hours until 7:30 and bedtime.  Anthony was pretty bad, kicking and screaming and at one point scratching the heck out of my throat.  Then right before bedtime he came and laid on me and he felt warm and I took his temperature and it was almost 101, so I figured maybe he was extra badly behaved because he didn't feel good.

It must be terrible, I know.  I mean, I can't imagine what it's like to not feel good and not be able to say it.  To hear Maria and Veronica go on and on and ON and even Felicity, to get their needs met when they have one hair out of place must be rotten.  But it is also rotten to know that it's going on and not be able to do one thing about it and to not have any help figuring it out.

Anyway, he went right to sleep last night and Mike and I were afraid he was going to be up super early but he wasn't.  He is still warm but seemed fine this morning so we were thinking of giving him some Tylenol and sending him off to school after their two hour delay, but the school made it easier for us to make the final decision because they ended up closing.  I'm sure they didn't want to take anymore days off because last week they were closed for two days because it was cold out.  Just cold, no snow, no ice, no rain or dark of night, just - it was too cold for kids to stand at the bus stop!  I was complaining about it last week and saying that I thought this made them wussies, as they don't go to school outside and a friend of mine LIT INTO ME.  She told me that I wasn't thinking of all my advantages, that I should kiss my kids instead of bitching, and that I clearly wasn't thinking of the kids whose parents didn't even have cars!  I don't even know what to say about it, I mean, it feels pretty bad here when Anthony can't go to school.  I don't know if I would trade it for a CAR or anything but I hardly think that's the point.  The point, to me, is that it seems like we should be able to stand waiting for a bus for ten minutes in order to get in a whole day at school.  School has become this throw-away thing that we do, like if conditions are absolutely perfect, we can go but otherwise it's a no go!  A friend of mine told me about a friend of hers who kept her son at home even though they had school because it was so bad out.  I don't even understand that.  The girls, thank God, have had school every day and Anthony was able to go to Little Star last week so it went okay.  Today is a different story, though, with him being sick and with the weather.  Felicity is at preschool so at least they are not home together.  They are complete archenemies and I hope it gets better soon.

What else.  Anthony ran out of school last week.  I guess it was Friday, they called me but I didn't get the message so they called Mike and told him the details.  I guess Anthony was in the gym and somehow he ran out of the gym and then OUT OF THE BUILDING.  I don't know how far he got or anything but I do know that he was running in the snow long enough that his feet got super wet.  At first they told Mike that their plans for improving the situation and not letting something like this happen again included making a social plan and telling Anthony that he can't do that, which, UM, does NOT WORK!  Then the principal stepped in the conversation and said that they would have someone stationed at the door to stop him.  Upon thinking about it further, I think it's unacceptable.  I am going to schedule a meeting with his teacher and principal and anyone I have to to figure out if he can get a one on one aide so that we can be sure it doesn't happen again.  I mean, I can't even get over it that it DID happen.  He could have easily been HIT by a CAR, I can't even stand to think about it.

It is a difficult situation, to say the least.  I feel like we are just waiting and waiting for everything.  I feel like getting a dog for Anthony at this point could be life changing, but we can't get the dog, we are still on the waiting list.  I think, should I be figuring out some other organization to work with?  We are two years in, almost, with this one, so I guess we should just wait.  I want to have faith that we will get the dog when we are supposed to, but why aren't we supposed to now?  If it's going to make our lives so much better, why can't they be better, when they are so rotten now?  I don't understand it.  I was telling my sister the other day, I feel like we've never needed help more and there has never been less help available to us.  I feel completely abandoned, and it is a crappy way to feel!  I mean, I know it's unpleasant, our lives are pretty unpleasant but man.  I have never felt more alone or out of resources.

Um, but on a pleasant note, um, let me think.  Spring is coming?  Felicity is only getting older so she will be able to not be so freaked out/pushed down by Anthony?  Maybe things will get better, in fact, I would say that they can't get worse but I don't want to jinx anything.