Robin, I hope your niece gets the care she needs, and that her folks get the support and education they need, and that if her issues (addiction and/or an eating disorder) are outside of the therapist's expertise, that the family will be able to find a therapist who specializes. How sad and scary for you all.
Speaking of lizardbrain fear, someone walked into our house last night. We were sitting there watching MI5, the dog ran to the door, and this guy just walked in. Mr. H was yelling at him, and then pushed him outside. It took me a few minutes to even realize what was happening, and by that time Mr. H was on the phone with the cops.
Heather, that is *so* creepy. Was he still hanging around when the cops arrived?
One night, right after we'd moved Ben out of our room and his bassinet and into his crib, some women attempted to enter our apartment. She appeared to be mentally confused and possibly a drug addict. She kept insisting she lived there. (She didn't and hadn't, in-laws owned the place). At first, the cops didn't know whether to believe us. She had a big, long story. Before they got there, she kept attempting to enter in different ways, front door, back door, back porch window. I think I ended up setting Ben's playpen up in our bedroom for the night, because even after it was all sorted, and the cops were convinced she wasn't ours, I was so creeped out.
In a more recent instance of creepy mental confusion, today after church, Dh, the kids, my mum, cousin and I went to The 99 (chain pub-restaurant). Julia had to go to the ladies room. The first time, we were still waiting for our table, so my mum took her. The second time (everything in this rest room is touchless: the toilet, sink, soap, and paper towel dispensers all work via sensors, so Julia is captivated and has her tiniest bladder ever, there), we were eating. She said she'd go alone, but I just don't go in for that.
I took her, and both stalls were occupied at first. The handi-capped stall was available first, so I took her in there. I could see a woman trying to open the door, so I said, "Excuse me, this is occupied." She kept trying to. One time, she got it a little open, and so I pulled it shut, saying, "There's someone in here." She did it again, and I could tell the other stall was available, so I said, "You need to use the other stall. We're in this one."
She then started jimmying the lock, from the outside. I was holding the door closed from the top and she said something I disremember. I told her to stop and use the other stall. She managed to pull harder than I was, and got it open. Julia was still not done. I said very harshly, "You're going to have to wait. We are in here, and my daughter is using the bathroom."
She said, "I've got to go in there."
I said, "You can't come in here. I have my little girl in here, on the toilet."
"I need to get through this door."
I point to the right. "This door doesn't go to anything but another stall. If you need to go to the bathroom, you need to use the other stall." I pointed straight behind her, past the sinks to the restroom entry. "If you need to leave, the door is over there."
She said, "You need to let me in."
"You cannot come in here. You need to stop it. My little girl is in here." I knew the woman must be suffering some mental confusion, because the restroom just isn't big or confusing. The stalls are typical stalls that you can see under and over, so it's not like the door to our stall looked like the restroom entry. My inner lioness was too worked up by now to offer her assistance, particularly with Julia just sitting there, waiting for me.
She then said something about her sister waiting for her. I said, "Then if you need to use the bathroom, you have to wait for us to finish in this one, or..."
"I can't wait," she said.
"Well, then you need to use that one there."
"My sister is waiting for me. I need to go in there."
I finally said, "Do you need to go to the (continued...)