Whew, Tep!

Bro~ma amyparker

That's awesome Teppy!

Yeah, I don't remember the last time I slept for...15 hours?! So much for getting anything done today.

Also I am glad I'm not a parent right now, I guess? Because I wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do with a screaming hitting child. Or at least, no idea of what's actually good/helpful/appropriate!!

Teppy, that is such a relief.

Thanks, folks - Jim and I have a running joke with a friend that our families of origin have spent the last few years passing around a trophy for "Very Poor Behavior". I'm sure it's Sara's turn . . . .

(I am joking because I just finished crying. My brother is dealing with something terrible, and making very bad decisions in light of it - but it's the reactions of the rest of my immediate family that has me thinking "Yeah, we're going on a break". Put it this way: Connie's death is not the most awful thing I have been working through, the last month or so.)

I'm sorry, Amy. Much~ma for your brother and for you.

Funny ltc story to make up for all my bitching: we're at urgent care today and I hand TCG my phone to show him a news article, and ltc wants to know who it is in the picture accompanying the article. I told her "nobody important", and then she very loudly asks "Is it Tr*mp? I think it's Tr*mp!" Which got the attention of every single person in the waiting room.

Oh, sj, that's awful and hilarious all at once. How are you feeling?

I'm not sleeping, but otherwise I'm good. Dreading the morning routine tomorrow.

I'm sorry, amyparker. Family~ma in whatever form is most useful.

I was up half the night coughing and now I can't get warm. Ugh. Do not want.

I'm so sorry, amyparker. Lots of ~ma heading to you and your brother.

The ~ma really is good stuff, yay for news on the contract, Teppy!

sj, I hope this morning is much easier than anticipated. Health~ma sent to your family with extra doses of calm~ma to you.

I honestly don't remember any huge issues with the boys when they were toddlers, except I remember my exhaustion and desperation for a solid block of sleep. They had a small business owner's kids upbringing where they went to work with us every day and had a dozen caretakers and tons of customer distractions, and at that time in their lives we ate out almost daily because we had zero time to plan meals at home. They either had too much distraction to have time for tantrums, or somehow understood that I really had neither the time nor patience to deal with it. They both started preschool 2ish, but #1 got kicked out of a couple of them. He has always been far worse with accepting authority from others than he is with me, so pretty grateful for that!

tl;dr Parenting isn't for the weak.

I told her "nobody important", and then she very loudly asks "Is it Tr*mp? I think it's Tr*mp!"

Ha! That is awesome, also well done protecting the child from the news as much as possible. Hopefully she will have no memory of his existence when she is older!

Much brother ma to you, amyparker. It was also harder than expected to get your name to not be in Title Case.

It sounds like little tea cup has qualities that make a trying child, but is going to be a great adult. Curiosity and a willingness to speak ones mind. Probably doesn't help now, though! I am pretty grateful that I didn't become a mother. I would have been terrible at it