Monday TLC was going to
post. Baby Elle was having a rough day. Tuesday I drove North East to stay two
nights with TLC et al. Hoped TLC could post that night. No such luck. We’re not
sure what we did that day, but it went by fast and furious and, at bedtime, no
post had occurred.
Yesterday was one of those
horrible/awful/terrible days you just want to end. As fast as possible.
Little Leighton (aka LL
aka Biscuit) woke up way too early—for the second day in a row—saying she wanted
“to see the stars.” FYI: One cannot really see too many stars from TLC’s casa.
On the upside: LL thinks any light she sees outside a window at night is a
star—so that helps. I took LL upstairs to the playroom and let her have my iPhone
to play a (free) Disney Jr. App I quickly downloaded. I had no idea how the
night had gone for TLC, Her Hubby (HH), and Baby Elle. I suspected they were
all still asleep—at 6:00 a.m.
I told Biscuit she had to
give me my phone at breakfast and wouldn’t be able to play again until after school.
Her class was having “Muffins with Mom” at 9:00 a.m. and I was keeping Baby
Elle for the first time—by myself—while TLC attended this much-anticipated
event. She said: "Okay, Grammy! I will." Right. And she has a bridge she'd like to sell me.
Well, I don’t need to bore
y’all with all of the gory details of the morning that went straight to H*LL. I
can share a few of the not-funny hitches: LL went ballistic when I tried to get
my phone away from her at 8:00 . She refused to wear the positively lovely Matilda Jane dress her
Mom had found—on sale—and had hyped, with LL, for weeks. Eventually, around 8:28 , Biscuit said she didn’t even want to go to
school. (She has never, ever, EVER said that. Not once this school year.)
TLC took her—dragging and
screaming—late. And wishing, for just about an hour—that she’d reconsidered the
whole “MOM” thing a few years back. When she came home, we took turns cuddling
Baby Elle and doing some housecleaning chores. TLC was mucho recovered.
Because HH had gone for
take-out the night before, I offered to make a run to the local Sprouts
store to get some chicken and veggies to cook (TLC--not me, of course. Hahaha.) for dinner. While at Sprouts, my American
Express card was declined. DECLINED. Twice. A card I’ve had for over 16 years
and have never once been a second late on paying. My Sweet Hubby (MSH) has had
his card—and I’ve used it many, many, many times—for well over 40 years. Same
excellent credit history. I was mortified/embarrassed/humiliated as the cute
cashier—who had just minutes before told me she liked my hair—cheerily said the
word “Declined” in a loud voice. TWICE. I sounded like everyone who says these words:
This is a mistake. This has never happened to me before.
It had NOT ever happened to
me. Ever. Heads were going to roll.
After lunch, TLC took Baby
Elle with her to go to her 6-week checkup with her OB/GYN. I was in the church parking
lot to pick up TLC from school when TLC called me. (Actually, I was on hold
with American Express—having been told the problem with my “declined” card was
that they didn’t have my physical address in their computer. I hung up. I won’t
even go into the lecture they received from me before I hung up. Furious doesn’t adequately
express my feelings. I had to call them back late last night.)
TLC was in tears. LL’s
teacher had called her minutes before to tell her they had mistakenly given LL
a blueberry muffin for an afternoon snack. A muffin with gluten. After an
entire school year of never once making that mistake, the teachers had
forgotten she has Celiac. TLC was devastated. Scared. Angry. Shocked.
When I arrived at LL’s
class, both teachers were in tears. Apologized over and over for the mistake. I
told them I was sure LL would be okay.
I couldn’t have been more
wrong. In less than two hours, LL was violently ill. It was a nightmare for
three hours—she couldn’t keep water down. She finally fell into a deep sleep
around 6:00 . She woke up at 10:00 p.m. Felt better. Said she was hungry. Ate some apple
slices and a piece of toast with almond butter. Went back to sleep at 11:00 and slept until almost 7:45 this morn.
Today Biscuit's been better.
No vomiting. She is not 100%. She’ll get there. She doesn’t understand she’s
going to have to advocate for herself—SOON. When someone gives her food, she’s
going to have to learn to ask if it’s gluten-free. And bravely say she can’t have it if
it’s not. Our hearts will remain forever broken about this. It is what it is.
I was always going to
bring her back home with me today. It was in question last night. She would
have been beyond sad if we’d cancelled this trip. She loves to be here. We all made the decision for her to come with me. MSH and I treasure every minute she’s with us. We'll take her home Saturday.
Could our lives have been
worse this week? Yep. Much. Are we working to keep up a positive/hopeful
attitude about tomorrow and this weekend? Absolutely. Will there be a post in
the next three to four days from TLC? Probably not. From moi? I have no clue.
Honestly, I’m in Coast
Mode at this time…may be coasting for weeks. Months. Years. Life's a mystery
to me.
Here’s hoping Y’all’s
Friday is Fabulous and Y’all’s Weekend is WONDERFUL.
smooch
